Ralph J. Gutiérrez is a wildlife ecologist at the University of Minnesota, St Paul, where he holds the Gordon Gullion Endowed Chair in Forest Wildlife Research and Education. His research centres on grouse, quail, and endangered species. He has studied spotted owls for thirty-five years and observed the continuing conflict between forestry interests and conservation interests over the fate of the owl and its habitat. Over the past fourteen years his interests have expanded from science and management to the roots of the conflict.

Kevin A. Wood is an early career researcher at Bournemouth University interested in conservation and ecology. His interest in the natural world began with a childhood chasing insects, climbing trees and trying to catch fish in the Oxfordshire countryside where he grew up. His research aims to predict how organisms will respond to environmental change, and how species can be managed to prevent population declines.

Juliette C. Young is a political ecologist at the NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, where she has been working since 2002. Her portfolio of national and international research is focused on interdisciplinary approaches to understand and address conservation conflicts, attitudes towards biodiversity and its conservation, and science-policy interfaces.