From apes to elephants, oil palm to ivory, there are some subjects I know particularly well.
Expertise and Specialisms
Over the years I have worked on many different topics and issues, and I enjoy the adventure of learning about something new. Naturally, though, there are some areas that I have worked on in more depth or returned to more often. Although this may not mean I am an official expert it does make me more immediately familiar with their details and nuances.
Probably the most notable of these subjects is elephants. Having seen them in the wild and in rehabilitation centres in Africa and Asia, and worked on projects focused on poaching control, conflict resolution, reintroduction and captive welfare, I have a reasonable grounding in the fantastically complicated issues surrounding this spectacular and often controversial creature. My other main taxonomic specialism is the great apes, which I have worked on at international policy level and in collaboration with a range of field projects and conservation groups, including having the privilege of seeing gorillas and orangutans in the wild. Beyond this, I should give a special mention to rhinos, turtles and also the Mallorcan midwife toad which was the subject of my MSc thesis.
Cutting across these species-based specialisms are the broader issues that I have had specific experience with. These have included (among other things):
- community conservation initiatives;
- human-wildlife conflict;
- illegal wildlife trade;
- habitat conversion;
- wild animal rehabilitation and reintroduction;
- captive animal welfare.
I am also quite used to working in collaborations and umbrella groups of various sorts, under various regimes of internal consultation, group decision making and document editing by committee!
Although much of my work has been on international topics, I also like to follow UK wildlife and environment issues, and am a member of several national conservation charities. In particular I am interested in species restoration and reintroduction programmes, ancient woodlands and organic farming. More broadly I am fascinated by the subject of ecology, particularly community ecology and related issues like keystone species and trophic cascades. I love learning and thinking about evolution, and in particular the devastatingly simple but subtly complex concept of natural selection. I am also very keen on exploring and cultivating improvements and alternatives to the keeping of wild animals in captivity.
