Researcher Database

（Last updated : 2025-02-12 14:39:25）　

SAKURAI Ryo

Department / Course College of Policy Science Department of Policy Science

Title / Position Associate Professor

Scopus Paper Info
Paper Count: 41 Citation: 624 h-index: 12

Click to view the Scopus page. The data was downloaded from Scopus API on Apr 21, 2025. via http://api.elsevier.com and http://www.scopus.com .

Other Affiliations
1.	Graduate School of Policy Science
2.	Research Organization of Open Innovation & Collaboration Center for MONODZUKURI Qualitative Research
3.	Research Organization of Open Innovation & Collaboration Research Center for Sustainability Science
4.	Research Organization of Open Innovation & Collaboration The Research and Development Institute of Regional Information

Academic background
1.	2009/08～2012/12	Doctorial Course │ Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation │ School of Natural Resources and Environment │ University of Florida │ Completed Ph. D. (Interdisciplinary Ecology)
2.	2007/08～2009/05	Master Course │ Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation │ School of Natural Resources and Environment │ University of Florida │ Completed MSc (Interdisciplinary Ecology)
3.	2003/04～2007/03	Department of Politics │ Faculty of Law │ Keio University │ Graduated Bachelor(Law)
4.	2000/04～2003/03	│ Keio Shiki High School │ Graduated

Business career
1.	2022/04 ～	Associate Fellow │ │ Ritsumeikan Advanced Research Academy (RARA)
2.	2017/09 ～	Associate Professor │ College of Policy Science │ Ritsumeikan University
3.	2022/04/01 ～ 2024/03/31	Associate Dean │ College of Policy Science │ Ritsumeikan University
4.	2015/04/01 ～ 2017/09/25	Assistant Professor │ College of Policy Science │ Ritsumeikan University
5.	2014/04/01 ～ 2015/03/31	Part-time lecturer │ │ Chiba University
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Committee and society
1.	2024/08 ～	Board of Environmental Education Evaluation, Ministry of the Environment Committee
2.	2019/04/01 ～	Board of Environment, Kyoto City Committee
3.	2017/08 ～	The Japanese Society for Environmental Education Editor: Environmental Education in Asia
4.	2021/05 ～	Japan Association on the Environmental Studies Board Member
5.	2015/05 ～ 2017/04	Japan Association on the Environmental Studies
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Research activities
1.		The Japanese Society of Environmental Education
2.		Japan Association on the Environmental Studies
3.		Association of Wildlife and Human Society
4.		Japan Association for College and University Education
5.		Ecological Society of Japan
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Qualification and license
1.	2014	Certificate of Advanced Social Researcher (Japanese Association for Social Research)

Subject of research
1.	Human Dimensions of Wildlife Management
2.	Evaluation of environmental education program
3.	Ecosystem restoration, reintroduction of extinct species
4.	I have been conducting social studies on participatory and sustainable management of coastal areas (Satoumi). The study include evaluation of effectiveness of marine education program.
5.	Evaluation of university education
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Research summary
My goals as a researcher are to find ways to build a sustainable society in which people live in harmony with nature by conducting social research. I have conducted survey to local residents and evaluation of outreach program, and made suggestions regarding community based management of natural resources. The theme of my doctoral dissertation was Human Dimensions of Wildlife Management (HDW) which is currently recognized as an academic discipline in the US. HDW aims to solve human-wildlife conflicts by gaining information of social dimensions necessary to ensure the smooth implementation of the wildlife management. 　I conducted research in Hyogo prefecture to understand what factors were causing human-bear conflicts and how government could implement interventions to mitigate the issues. In concrete, I examined public perceptions (e.g. knowledge, attitudes, behavioral intentions) regarding bears and factors that influence these perceptions as well as their evaluation of current government policies by conducting interviews to stakeholders and a questionnaire survey to local residents. Based on these studies, I made suggestions to government regarding potential targets and contents of outreach programs to reduce human-bear conflicts which led to the implementation of community education seminars conducted by Hyogo Prefecture. I conducted evaluation studies to understand, in what aspect, these outreach activities were effective. Results revealed that majority of participants engaged in damage prevention activities after the seminar. 　I have conducted evaluation research regarding outreach and education programs regarding wildlife management in different prefectures including Nagano and Tochigi. Based on these research, I made suggestions for effective wildlife management policy and outreach/education programs. 　I also conducted research regarding a community-based greening project at Yokohama city. The city enforced “Midori (green)-up Plan” to conserve nature for the next generation and to facilitate participatory greening activities in designated model districts. I am assessing the impact of the Flower and Green Community Development Project on a model district designated by Yokohama city by doing interview and survey to stakeholders and residents. Other research themes include understanding challenges and possibilities of citizen science in Japan, and examining resilience of a community toward the climate change.

Present specialized field
Environmental and ecological symbiosis, Design and evaluation of sustainable and environmental conscious system, Environmental policy and social systems, Area studies, Sociology, Social psychology, Education, Ecology/Environment, Rural environmental engineering/Planning (Keyword：wildlife management, environmental education, sato-umi, evaluation of policy, human dimensions of wildlife management, social study, environmental sociology, evaluation of environmental education program, survey, civil participation, citizen science, training, interview, biodiversity, socio-psychology, coastal management, sato-umi education, media analysis, mentoring)

Books
1.	2022	Chapter 5: The Ecological City: With a Specific Focus on Participatory Biological Conservation in "City, Public Values, and Capitalism" │ ,pp.99-117

Papers
1.	2024	Development and current condition of brown bear education program at Shiretoko Utoro school: Based on interviews to stakeholders and survey to students │ Wildlife and Human Society │
2.	2024	Developing a system model for articulating the social-ecological impacts of species reintroduction │ Ecology and Society │ 29 (2)
3.	2024	Trophic cascades by recovered wolf populations: a review of North American and European cases │ ,pp.11-24
4.	2024/08	Seeking the meaning of presenting environmental education research from Asia to the world │ Japanese Journal of Environmental Education │ 33 (4)
5.	2023	Public attitude and intention toward engaging in reintroduction of wolves to Japan │ Conservation Biology │
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Academic conference presentation
1.	2022/07/03	Promotion of sustainable/renewable energy; Efforts to support local stakeholders
2.	2022/05/03	Public attitudes toward reintroduction of wolves in Japan
3.	2021/10/13	Evaluating a Marine Education Program at a Junior High School in Japan
4.	2021/10/14	EE and Citizenship under Pandemic- International connection for collaborative study
5.	2021/10/19	Is SPACE-Flight Resource Management skillset effective for remote workers on ground?
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Winning science prize
1.	2017/07	Japan Association on the Environmental Studies Award of Japan Association on the Environmental Studies: Award for Encouraging Young Researchers
2.	2017/03	The Ecological Society of Japan Ecological Research論文賞 (Citizen science: a new approach to advance ecology, education, and conservation)
3.	2016/11	The Japanese Society of Environmental Education Award for encouraging research and practice
4.	2016/08	The ESPEC Foundation for Global Environment Research and Technology ESPEC Prize for the Encouragement of Environmental Studies
5.	2016/03	Springer Must-Read Articles From 2015 (Citizen science: a new approach to advance ecology, education, and conservation)
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Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research -KAKENHI-
1.	2013/04 ～ 2015/03	Building an adaptive model case for solving human-wildlife issues from social dimensions

Competitive grants, etc. (exc. KAKENHI)
1.	2016/12 ～ 2017/11	Evaluation of Ocean Education Program Focusing on Satoumi: case study at Hinase Junior High School at Bizen City, Okayama Prefecture │ Research by External Competitive Fund │ Casio Science Promotion Foundation

Message
1.	My research goal is to contribute to establishment of a sustainable society in which people live in harmony with nature. Based on various academic discipline including social-psychology, ecology, and environmental education, and by using multiple methods such as qualitative and quantitative study, my aim is to conduct research that helps to solve social and environmental issues. I conduct a research regarding human dimensions of wildlife management, participatory and sustainable management of coastal areas (Satoumi), program evaluation of the reconstruction project of Fukushima, and potentials of citizen science for conservation and education. I will also start a collaborative research regarding management of Satoumi with a specific focus on understanding residents’ willingness to conserve coastal areas. a. Human dimensions of wildlife management; research for establishing human dimensions as a new academic discipline in Japan b. Research regarding participatory and sustainable management of coastal areas (Satoumi) including evaluation of marine education program c. Program evaluation of Fukushima reconstruction activities d. Continuous research to reveal potentials of citizen science e. Research for designing and evaluating environmental education programs that aim to train global leaders in universities f. Designing an environmental education program in which university, government, and citizen collaborate I will also make every effort to do effective education at my own university. Environmental problems are in many cases both local and global issues and collaboration with various stakeholders are necessary for solving them. In that sense, communication skills are indispensable ability that students need to acquire and I will teach these skills in my class. In addition, faculty members, I believe, need to coach students, act as a role model for students, and support development of students’ career. This role overlaps with that of a mentor who improves ability of mentees and foster their motivation and confidence. I studied about mentorship in the US during my PhD program, while doing my own research regarding wildlife management, and my goal is to become a mentor who can encourage students to achieve their goals. I would like to welcome those students who are motivated to solve environmental problems in both local and global societies.

researchmap Researcher code
7000013319