kaichan
Kai Chan is an associate professor and Canada Research Chair (tier 2, in Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services). His training spans conservation biology, ecology, evolutionary biology, policy, and ethics, and his skill sets include quantitative analysis and modeling. Kai combines these perspectives in a sustainability science research program on social-ecological interactions (including human impacts on ecosystem components and processes, and ecosystem services to benefit people) and applied environmental ethics to inform ecosystem-based management and sustainability solutions. Kai leads CHAN’S lab; he is a director on the board of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society’s BC chapter (CPAWS-BC), a senior fellow of the Environmental Leadership Program, and a member of the Global Young Academy.
To see Kai’s page at CHAN’S lab click here.
Gaston et al., Navigating the editorial and publishing process at PaN
Gaston, K.J., M. Anderson, K.M.A. Chan, P. Dooner, R.D. Fish, R.K. Gould, S. Partelow, T. Plieninger and A. Rawluk “Navigating the editorial and publishing process at People and Nature: Advice for (and requests to) authors and reviewers.” People and Nature n/a(n/a). Doi: 10.1002/pan3.70057
Bassett et al., From tyranny to hope (for small decisions)
Bassett, C.G., S.D. Day, C.C. Konijnendijk, K.M.A. Chan and L.A. Roman (2025). “From tyranny to hope: Harnessing the power of small decisions to achieve urban sustainability goals.” Environmental Science & Policy 170: 104125. Doi: 10.1016/j.envsci.2025.104125
Chan et al, What if cultural ecosystem services were relational?
Chan, K.M.A., R.K. Gould, R. López de la Lama and H.N. Eyster (2025). What if cultural ecosystem services were relational? A research agenda for nature’s contributions to well-being—and human action. The Routledge Handbook of Cultural Ecosystem Services. P. McElwee, K. Allen, R. Gould, M. Hsu and J. Ye: 13. Doi: 10.4324/9781003414896-40
Towards a Relational Theory of Value
Kai and others argued that the complete domination of economics in policymaking is a problem, and that what’s needed is an alternative (relational) theory of value. This is the introductory editorial to a special feature in People and Nature.
Chan et al, multiple values of nature and a coherent theory of value
Chan, K.M.A., R.K. Gould, C. Maller, R. Fish, R.S. Hails and K.J. Gaston “The multiple values of nature show the lack of a coherent theory of value—In any context.” People and Nature 7(6): 1272–1285. Doi: 10.1002/pan3.70039
Kai appointed Commissioning Editor at People and Nature
After serving six years as a Founding Lead Editor, Kai is now Commissioning Editor at the British Ecological Society journal, People and Nature. In this role, Kai is commissioning three new kinds of articles. Check out this blog post to suggest someone or a topic, or to see if one of your ideas might fit.
Eyster et al., Theories of human action in conservation research
Eyster, H.N., R.K. Gould, K.M.A. Chan and T. Satterfield (2025). “Use of theories of human action in recent conservation research.” Conservation Biology 39(2): e14461. Doi: 10.1111/cobi.14461
Woodburn et al., Climate change affecting coastal ecosystems
Woodburn, E., C.C. Murray, E.J. Gregr, K.M.A. Chan and A. Stock (2025). “The many pathways of climate change affecting coastal ecosystems: a case study of western Vancouver Island, Canada.” FACETS 10: 1-18. Doi: 10.1139/facets-2024-0043
Anderson et al., Transformative influence?
Anderson, L.M., M. Chapman, B. Muraca and K.M.A. Chan “Transformative influence? The hedonic and eudaimonic sustainabilities of social media influencers.” Environmental Communication: 1-19. Doi: 10.1080/17524032.2025.2458227
