Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
Jackie obtained her first degree in Psychology from the University of Dundee. Her undergraduate dissertation was an exploration of SIT/SCT principles of identity, as applied to Scottish and English identity. This was later published in BJSP. She then went on to complete an MSc in Critical Social Psychology at Lancaster University. This expanded her knowledge of identity approaches within social psychology. She became particularly interested in discursive psychology during this time and upon completion of her MSc, she went to study for a PhD at Loughborough University, supervised by Professor Michael Billig. His book, Arguing and Thinking, had a profound influence upon the way that she hought about her chosen discipline. She completed her dissertation on identity and the BSE crisis in cattle, and from there was offered her first job as a Research Associate on a Leverhulme funded project about the impact of Scottish devolution upon notions of British, Scottish and English identity. Working with Professor Susan Condor and Professor David McCrone (Edinburgh University), this was a 5-year longitudinal project to monitor change in the population with respect to devolution. From here she was awarded her first lectureship at Lancaster University, in social psychology. She continued to research and publish work on identity.
More recently, she has become interested in conservation and lion reintroduction, and how social psychological models and concepts could be applied to this field. To improve my biological knowledge, she completed an MSc in Animal Behaviour, and took up a role with the African Lion and Environmental Research Trust as Director of Research. She has since published papers on conservation, reintroduction programmes, and identity. She is the lead author of the David Myers ‘Social Psychology’ textbook (European edition) which is now in its 2nd edition. In 2013 Jackie was approved as a member of the IUCN, SSC Conservation Planning and Specialist Group, who are a select group of experts responsible for conservation strategies throughout the world. In 2016 she was nominated and elected onto the African Lion Working Group, representing the social sciences within the field of lion conservation. She aims to continue championing the role of social sciences in conservation work, broadening the discipline to address this real-world problem, and apply theory and method to the study of human-animal relations and interactions.
Research Interests
Vision Statement
My research is based upon social psychological understandings of identity and how they guide behaviour. This has been studied in relation to national identity in the context of monarchy and national football. More recently I have applied social psychology theory and methods to wildlife (lion) conservation. This research extends to the following inter-linked areas:
1) the design, implementation and assessment of an ex situ lion reintroduction model
2) in situ monitoring of existing wild lions - assessment of current populations, threats, human-wildlife conflict mitigation
3) protection and monitoring of biodiversity (including elephants, hyenas, deforestation/reforestation)
4) social development & education - designing and implementing interventions to derive incentives and benefits for local African communities and are affected by lions, to protect and conserve lions. These extend across the fields of literacy, conservation education and vocational skill training.
I have also applied the first social network analysis to the study of social cohesion within lion prides - vital to the management and understanding of pride behaviour. My aim is to extend social psychological explanations for human behaviour to their relations with other species. By doing so, social psychology can contribute to global issues pertaining to environmental and conservation behavioural change.
Biography
I am the Ethics and Governance Lead for CAWR. I am also the Module Lead for 7061EXQ MSc Project, the CAWR Staff Liaison Officer and Aspire+ Lead (Social Sciences). I am a qualified Leadership Coach in Coaching and Mentoring (CMI: Level 7).
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Education/Academic qualification
MSc, Animal Behaviour, Manchester Metropolitan University
30 Sept 2011 → 31 Aug 2013
Award Date: 1 Nov 2013
Psychology, Doctorate, Politics & the Rhetoric of Identities: An Analysis of the BSE Debate, Loughborough University
31 Oct 2000 → 31 Jan 2001
Award Date: 1 Feb 2000
MSc, Critical Social Psychology, Lancaster University
1 Sept 1995 → 31 Jul 1996
Award Date: 1 Sept 1996
MA, Psychology, University of Dundee
1 Oct 1991 → 1 Jun 1995
Award Date: 3 Jul 1995
External positions
External examiner, Lancaster University
1 Oct 2021 → 30 Sept 2030
External PhD Supervisor, Nottingham Trent University
1 Sept 2018 → 1 Jul 2023
Director of Research, African Lion & Environmental Research Trust
31 Jul 2013 → 30 Jun 2018
Keywords
- BF Psychology
- Social Psychology
- Research Methods
- Social Inclusion/Exclusion
- Environmental sustainability
- Behaviour and Attitude Change
- human wildlife conflict
- geography
- Climate Change
- biodiversity
- SF Animal culture
- African Lions
- Social Predators
- Human-Wildlife Conflict /Coexistence
- Reintroduction
- Social networks
- rewilding
- biodiversity
- H Social Sciences (General)
- social psychology
- Language
- Communication
- Research Methods
- QH301 Biology
- Conservation Biology
- Environmental sustainability
- Zoology
- Animal Behaviour
- L Education (General)
- Literacy
- Conservation Education
- Developing Countries
- Rural Communities
- Problem-based learning
- Pedagogy
- G Geography (General)
- Human geography
- social geography
- human-environment relationships
- place identity
- Environmental sustainability
Fingerprint
- 1 Similar Profiles
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
-
Rewilding Wild Packington
White, S. (Project Manager), Abell, J. (Researcher), Hill-Butler, C. (Researcher) & Kennedy, M. (Researcher)
1/03/23 → …
Project: Unfunded project
-
Historical Knowledges of Charterhouse Coventry and their Influence on Contemporary Perceptions, Planning and Practice of Ecological Restoration of Charterhouse Fields
Madamombe, G. T. (Researcher), Abell, J. (Academic), Kennedy, M. (Academic) & Hill-Butler, C. (Academic)
1/01/24 → 31/12/24
Project: Research
-
REPAS: REPAS: Co-creating citizen science for reducing plastic contamination of soil in community growing spaces
Rayns, F. (Principal Investigator), Abell, J. (Co-Investigator), Bogush, A. (Co-Investigator), Conroy, J. (Co-Investigator), Hill-Butler, C. (Co-Investigator), Fried, J. (Co-Investigator) & Rosenfeld, A. (Co-Investigator)
1/11/23 → 30/04/24
Project: Research
-
Rethinking Economic Growth: The impact of media narratives on inequality, wealth and growth: Rethinking Economic Growth
Carr, P., Goodman, S., Jowett, A. & Abell, J., 20 Mar 2025Research output: Practice-Based and Non-textual Research › Web publication/site
Open Access -
A Scoping Review of Academic Papers on Human Lion Conflict in Africa
Abell, J., Oldbury-Thomas, D. & Mazhandu, C., 23 Jul 2024, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Conservation Science and Practice. 6, 8, p. (In-Press) 13 p., e13178.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
Open AccessFile1 Citation (Scopus)39 Downloads (Pure) -
Examining the role of television programmes in legitimising inherited wealth and privilege for the super-rich in a society that values meritocracy
Carr, P., Goodman, S., Jowett, A. & Abell, J., 19 Oct 2024, In: Social Semiotics. 34, 5, p. 919-936 18 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile2 Citations (Scopus)164 Downloads (Pure) -
From Caves to the Savannah, the Mitogenome History of Modern Lions (Panthera leo) and Their Ancestors
Broggini, C., Cavallini, M., Vanetti, I., Abell, J., Binelli, G. & Lombardo, G., 10 May 2024, In: International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 25, 10, 17 p., 5193.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile30 Downloads (Pure) -
Getting what you deserve?
Carr, P., Abell, J. & Goodman, S., 26 May 2022, In: The Psychologist magazine. 2022, July/August, p. 62-63 2 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access
Activities
-
"Dragons in the Garden: How Urban Growers Perceive and Respond to Plastic Pollution in Their Soil"
Abell, J. (Speaker)
7 Feb 2025Activity: Talk or presentation › Invited talk
-
Why Psychology is Fundamental for the Environmental Sustainability and Wildlife Conservation Agenda
Abell, J. (Speaker)
25 Jun 2022Activity: Talk or presentation › Invited talk
-
Stakeholder perceptions of success in Human-Carnivore Coexistence
Lucas, C. (Speaker), Abell, J. (Speaker), Bremner-Harrison, S. (Speaker) & Whitehouse-Tedd, K. (Speaker)
19 Oct 2022 → 21 Oct 2022Activity: Talk or presentation › Oral presentation
-
Sustainability (Journal)
Abell, J. (Peer Reviewer)
1 Oct 2021Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial work › Publication peer-review
-
Conservation of Wild Lions: Five Acre Farm
Abell, J. (Speaker)
25 Feb 2021Activity: Talk or presentation › Invited talk
Press/Media
-
-
-
Can captive-bred lions contribute to saving the African lion?
2/10/13
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Expert Comment
-
Inside Track: taking steps towards a future for the African lion
19/08/13
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Expert Comment
-
Can captive-bred lions contribute to saving this vulnerable species?
5/08/13
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Expert Comment