The Human Ecology Research Group (HERG) focuses on natural resource use, mainly in developing countries but also in Eastern Europe and western industrial contexts, and provides a stimulating and cutting edge interdisciplinary forum for PhD students developing, discussing and disseminating their work in progress. Some 25 postgraduate researchers (including MSc's and postdocs) are currently on site in the Human Ecology Group, and these, together with five staff, meet on a weekly basis for work in progress and research methods sessions as well as for periodic workshops centring on current and recent research. The group focuses on research methods, covering approaches from participant observation and rapid appraisal to quantitative survey and questionnaire design, household survey etc. HERG focuses, on the one hand, on the impact of resource and population policy and management on people's livelihoods, health and welfare, and on the other, on the impacts of changing resource use on environment and biodiversity. HERG includes some 25 staff, postdoctoral and postgraduate researchers working on interactions of conservation and development in regions ranging from Amazonia, East and West Africa to Siberia and South East Asia; in ecosystems from tropical rain forest through drylands to coastal and riverine wetlands, and with a research focus ranging from single species interactions with people (e.g. great apes/large carnivores/turtles) through to broader themes (e.g. bushmeat; fire management regimes; fishers and aquatic resources, pastoralists and payments for wildlife conservation ). Research explores the interactions of wildlife conservation and rural livelihoods in less developed countries, and focuses particularly on ecosystem and threatened species ecology, household economy and livelihoods diversification.