Agathe Colléony

Personal website

Biography

Agathe’s PhD in environmental psychology focused on exploring the potential of zoos in reconnecting people with nature and biodiversity conservation, and was conducted in the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, France. She has a B.Sc in Life Sciences from the University of Rouen, France, a M.Sc in Ethology from the University of Rennes, France, and a M.Sc in Ecology from the University of Rouen, France.

Research area

Despite considerable efforts, the biodiversity crisis is still rapidly and profoundly happening, and the growing worldwide urbanization appears to be one of the major causes driving this crisis. Additionally, although the urban network provides people with numerous socioeconomic benefits, urban lifestyles have detrimental effects on human health and well-being. For instance, in addition to increased exposure to stress, urban dwellers are also growingly disconnected from the natural world.

This is caused by both a loss of opportunities and a loss of willingness to experience nature, that affect people’s health, wellbeing, emotions and attitudes toward nature; this is profoundly concerning because it can in turn affect the importance people assign to the natural world, leading to a deleterious feedback loop. This so-called ‘extinction of experience’ therefore potentially aggravates the biodiversity crisis.

Increasing opportunities can be achieved through the design of more sustainable cities, that mutually benefit people and the environment, but this requires a better understanding of the complex relationship between biodiversity and human well-being, that has been proven to be inconsistent across taxonomic groups, locations and a variety of social factors. Research project (1) thus focuses on identifying specific elements and dose of nature that provide well-being, in both controlled and field settings.

In many cases, simply increasing opportunities to be in contact with nature is not sufficient to encourage people to seek out contact with nature. Enhancing opportunities to use natural places should therefore be achieved in tandem with increasing willingness and orientations. Thus, this requires the identification and implementation of means to foster behaviors that enhance contact with nature. Research project (2) focuses on experimentally testing ways to enhance people’s interactions with biodiversity.

 

List of publications

Publications in peer-reviewed journals

Colléony A. & Shwartz A. (in press) When the winners are the losers: Invasive alien species outcompete the native winners in the biotic homogenization process. Biological Conservation (I.F. 4.66)

Colléony A. & Shwartz A. (2019) Beyond assuming co-benefits in Nature-based Solutions: A human-centered approach to optimize social and ecological outcomes for advancing sustainable urban planning. Sustainability. 11(18): 4924 (I.F. 2.07)

Levé M., Colléony A., Conversy P., Torres A-C., Truong M-X., Vuillot C. & Prévot A-C. (2019) Convergences and divergences in understanding the word biodiversity among citizens: a French case study. Biological Conservation. 236: 332-339 (I.F. 4.66)

Colléony A., White R. & Shwartz A. (2019) The influence of spending time outside on experience of nature and environmental attitudes. Landscape and Urban Planning. 187: 96-104 (I.F. 5.14; cité 3 fois)

Clayton S., Colléony A., Conversy P., Maclouf E., Martin L., Torres A-C., Truong M-X. & Prévot A-C. (2017) Transformation of experience: Toward a new relationship with nature. Conservation Letters. 10 (5): 645-651. (I.F. 7.39; cité 51 fois)

Colléony A., Martin L., Misdariis N., Clayton S., Saint-Jalme M. & Prévot A-C.  (2017) An anthropological exploration of soundscape in zoos: exoticism as a mediator of everyday experiences of nature. Human Ecology. 45 (5): 673-682. (I.F. 1.64; cité 4 fois).

Colléony A., Clayton S., Couvet D., Saint-Jalme M. & Prévot A-C. (2017) Human preferences for species conservation: Animal charisma trumps endangered status. Biological Conservation. 206: 263-269. (I.F. 4.66; cité 47 fois)

Colléony A., Prévot A-C., Saint-Jalme M. & Clayton S. (2017) What kind of landscape management can counteract the extinction of experience? Landscape and Urban Planning. 159: 23-31. (I.F. 5.14; cité 26 fois).

Nettle D., Coyne R. & Colléony A. (2012) No Country for Old Men. Street use and social diet in urban Newcastle. Human Nature. DOI 10.1007/s12110-012-9153-9. (I.F. 2.14; cité 14 fois).

Nettle D., Colléony A. & Cockerill M. (2011) Variation in cooperative behaviour within a single city. PLoS ONE 6(10): e26922. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0026922. (I.F. 2.77; cité 102 fois).

Book chapters

Colléony A. (2017) Le zoo, un lieu de reconnexion à la nature? In: Fleury C. & Prévot A-C (Ed) (2017) Le souci de la nature. Apprendre, inventer, gouverner. Paris, CNRS editions, 378p.

Nettle D. & Colléony A. (2014) The Tyneside Neighbourhoods Project: Investigating the psychological geography of one British city. In: Rentfrow, Peter J. (Ed) (2014) Geographical psychology: Exploring the interaction of environment and behavior (pp. 301-321) Washington, US: American Psychological Association, 343 pp. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/14272-016.

PhD manuscript

Colléony A. (2016). Evaluation of the potential of zoos in reconnecting people with nature and conservation issues. Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris.

Publications in non-peer reviewed journals

Colléony A. (2017) Zoos, peuvent-ils aider à reconnecter les urbains avec la nature ? L’Ecologiste n°50 Nouveaux regards sur l’animal.

Prévot A.-C. & Colléony A. (2015) Une nouvelle expérience de la nature. Pour la Science. Dossier n°89 Climat, relever le défi du réchauffement : 102-107.

Colléony A. (2015) Une expérience émotionnelle et sociale. Travaux Dirigés pour la Classe. N° 1094 spécial Le Parc Zoologique de Paris: 18-19.

 

Conferences

Invited speaker

Colléony A. Restoring human-nature interactions to help mitigate the biodiversity crisis. 10th Student Symposium of the Swiss Institute for Dryland Environmental and Energy Research (SIDEER) – The Human Element: Challenges Facing Science and Society. Sde Boker, Israel. 19-21/04/2019

Talks (based on abstract selection)

Colléony A., Levontin L. & Shwartz A. “Smell flowers”! Priming increases meaningful experiences of nature and well-being. Israeli Conference for Conservation Science (ICCS). Haifa, Israel. 16-17/04/2019

Shwartz A., Colléony A. & White R. The influence of spending time outside on experience of nature and conservation attitudes: Results from a cross-cultural study across France, Israel and the UK. International Network for Urban Biodiversity and Design (URBIO). Cape Town, South Africa. 11-14/09/2018

Colléony A., White R. & Shwartz A. Can walking dogs influence experience of nature and conservation attitudes? Results from a cross-cultural study. European Congress for Conservation Biology (ECCB). Jyväskylä, Finland. 11-15/06/2018

Colléony A., Clayton S., Couvet D., Saint Jalme M. & Prévot A.-C. Human preferences for species conservation: Animal charisma trumps endangered status. Israeli Conference for Conservation Science (ICCS). Sde Boker, Israel. 03-04/04/2017

Colléony A., Prévot A.-C., Saint Jalme M. & Clayton S. Defining the experience of nature of a large sample of French respondents. Young Natural History scientists Meeting (YNHM). Paris, France. 02-06/02/2016

Colléony A., Prévot A.-C., Saint Jalme M. & Clayton S. Qu’est-ce que l’expérience de visite au zoo, et quelles en sont les conséquences sur la connexion à la nature et les préoccupations vis-à-vis de la biodiversité ? Comité Français pour la Pédagogie Zoologique (CFPZ). Paris, France. 19-22/01/2016

Colléony A., Prévot A.-C., Saint-Jalme M. & Clayton S. La visite au zoo peut-elle influencer la connexion à la nature et les préoccupations vis-à-vis de la biodiversité ? 5ème Colloque Association pour la Recherche en Psychologie Environnementale (ARPEnv) : Transition écologique : de la perception à l’action. Nanterre, France. 11-12/06/2015

Colléony A., Prévot A.-C., Clayton S. & Saint Jalme M. Conservation and the “extinction of experience” : do zoos matter? 22nd Biennial Conference of International Zoo Educators Association. Hong Kong, China. 01-07/09/2014

Colléony A., Prévot A.-C., Clayton S. & Saint Jalme M. Comment les visiteurs de zoos perçoivent-ils la nature, dans et hors du zoo ? Journée Ecologie Urbaine, Programme Dens’cité. Paris, France. 08/07/14

Colléony A., Prévot A.-C., Clayton S. & Saint Jalme M. Do Zoo experiences impact people’s conservation behavior through enhanced connectedness with nature? 8th International Zoo and Aquarium Marketing Conference (WAZA). Bristol, UK. 11-14/04/14

Nettle D., Colléony A. Variation in cooperative behaviour within a single city. Human Behavior and Evolution Society 23rd Annual Conference. Montpellier, France. 29/06/11-03/07/11

Colléony A., Lalot M., Liévin A., Dollion N., Malassis R. , Péron F. & Bovet D. Are African grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus) prosocial? Ecology & Behaviour Meeting, SERL 2011. Rennes, France. 02-06/05/11

Posters (based on abstract selection)

Colléony A., Clayton S., Saint-Jalme M. & Prévot A.-C. What is a “natural place”? Perceptions of a large sample of French respondents. 27th International Congress for Conservation Biology (ICCB) and 4th European Congress for Conservation Biology (ECCB). Montpellier, France. 02-06/08/2015

Péron F., Colléony A., Liévin A., Malassis R., Dolion N., Nagle L. & Bovet D. Prosocial behaviour as a condition to maintain cooperation in a token exchange task in African grey parrots. INCORE conference. Cooperation: An Interdisciplinary Dialogue. Budapest, Hungary.17-18/09/10

Péron F., Liévin A., Colléony A., Malassis R., Dollion N., Nagle L. & Bovet D. Testing cooperative abilities in budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus) INCORE conference. Cooperation: An Interdisciplinary Dialogue. Budapest, Hungary. 17-18/09/10

 

 

Agathe's CV     Agathe - email         Agathe- Research gate        Agathe- Google scholar    Agathe -linkdin