Conservation

My research interests include the natural history & conservation ecology of small mammals, wild cats, Asian elephants, and tapirs, species responses to deforestation & habitat fragmentation, hunting & wildlife trade. I work at the interface between conservation science & applied wildlife management, using evidence-based approaches, statistical analysis, & technologies (EarthRanger, camera-trapping, acoustic sensors, RS imagery, SMART) to advise the conservation of wildlife populations in tropical Asia, Oceania and East Africa.

I have 10 years of experience in animal welfare and conservation ranging from project management, work plans, and managing implementation partners to fundraising, strategic partnerships and communications.  I'm also a registered veterinary nurse with knowledge and experience in zoonotic disease/one health. I've done work in Zambia, Africa as well as on many elephant conservation campaigns.  My special interests are community conservation, counter wildlife trafficking, poaching , human-wildlife conflict, wildlife protection and behavior change. 

Background: I studied at the University of St Andrews for my BSc Hons in Marine Biology from 2013-2017. During my time I trained and helped conduct research on seals at the SMRU/SOI, cetaceans in Turkey with DMAD, and studied abroad at James Cook University, Australia, undertaking research on coral reefs with Dr Maria Dornelas and Professor Sean Connelly. I was also lucky enough to study polar ecology, including a field course to the Western Antarctic Peninsula in March 2017. I then applied for a PhD project advertised through the Cambridge ESS DTP and joined the Conservation Evidence group in the UCCRI. I completed my PhD in Zoology (Determining the biases and consistences in the evidence for conservation) in March 2021 as a member of King’s College and the University of Cambridge Conservation Research Institute (UCCRI) in the Cambridge Conservation Initiative (CCI).  I am very interested in communicating science and conservation issues to the public and particularly interested in becoming a wildlife television presenter. In my spare time I am also an amateur wildlife photographer, love getting outdoors and playing all sorts of sports when I can. Current role: I am a Research Associate in the Department of Zoology and the Biosecurity Research Initiative at St Catherine’s (BioRISC) College. My research focuses on applying evidence-based principles from medicine to biodiversity conservation via the Conservation Evidence project. In particular, my work involves co-developing decision support tools with conservationists working to conserve species and provide them with relevant evidence-based recommendations. Currently, I am working on a project to help report tests of invasive species management interventions via an online app and promote more testing of conservation interventions. 

Passionate about the intersection of animal health, human health, and environmental health. Interested in the use of technology to advance our understanding of zoonotic diseases, wildlife conservation, and the One Health approach

I hold a master's degree in Environmental Science from Nepal, and my passion lies in wildlife research and conservation. My experience collaborating with various NGOs and organizations has equipped me with project management skills. With a strong foundation in environmental issues, I am particularly dedicated to addressing climate change and its repercussions. My primary focus in wildlife conservation revolves around studying mammalian behavior and species communities within the context of landscape dynamics. I am deeply committed to Felid's research and long-term conservation efforts. I am actively seeking Ph.D. opportunities in the conservation field to further advance my conservation objectives on a larger scale. 

I am a science communicator - in the early part of my career but learning quickly.  My main platform is The Curious Environmentalist but I also have a personal website and I have recently started a newsletter on Substack. I currently write and do podcasts, but I am hoping to expand into videos too. My whole ethos is about making science accessible to anyone who is curious.  I'd love to connect! 

MSc Biodiversity, Wildlife and Ecosystem Health. Experience in project management, strategy development, content development (on and off line), helped to develop one of the first word of mouth marketing agencies and lots of experience in Corporate Communications, Marketing & Advertising. Love all things nature based, adventurous, innovative and positive (whilst able to engage with the less positive to turn things around).  

I am a conservation enthusiast with a bias for wildlife fauna. I intend to specialize in project management. I am also looking for more opportunities in conservation all over the world, especially in the UK, USA, Canada, South Africa, Namibia, and Tanzania.

I have over 30 years of experience of species conservation and protected area management; human–wildlife conflict mitigation; countering the illegal wildlife trade; conservation-related research; biodiversity surveys; monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL); impact evaluation; and wildlife policy formulation, including the writing and implementation of action plans. Much of my time since 1988 has been spent in Asia and, from 2007, Asia and Africa. I spent the 1990s living and working in protected areas in Java, advising on their management with a particular focus on ungulates, wild dogs, and leopards. From 1998, I focused on elephants, particularly on the development of reliable monitoring methods, human–elephant conflict mitigation, and, since 2004, the ivory trade and the illegal killing of elephants. I worked for the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) for 18 years, working to conserve elephants in partnership with other NGOs, communities, and governments, and ultimately coordinating WCS’s elephant conservation work in Asia and Africa. In February 2018, I co-founded the NGO, Asian Arks, and served as its CEO until September 2020 with the aim of replicating and extending models of directly managing protected areas under long-term agreements with governments and communities, which the NGO African Parks and others have shown to be successful. From early 2018, I also worked as an independent consultant, partly to support the work of Asian Arks, which as a start-up was unable to pay for full-time staff. Consultancy projects completed include advising the Government of Mozambique on CITES policy, development of a threat monitoring protocol for protected areas and biodiversity offset sites in the Lao PDR, and a human–elephant conflict mitigation strategy for the Government of Gabon. Since December 2021, I have been employed by ZSL to lead the development of a robust conservation planning process to help ZSL’s teams design effective and adaptive long-term conservation strategies and deliver conservation impact.

I am a social scientist and passionate about increasing the application of social science research and methods in the conservation sector. To do this, I founded Human Nature. Human Nature is a social enterprise empowering conservation professionals to use social sciences to impact people and planet. We provide training and mentorship to NGOs, academics, policy makers and others wishing to build their foundations in social science. Many people working in conservation have trained through natural science routes, and find themselves needing to better understand the people elements of ecosystems. Social science provides the tools do this. Please get in touch if you are interested in hearing more about what we do.  You can contact me at https://humannature.co.uk/contact.

Zoë Lieb is the project coordinator on the Field Engagement team for the Allen Coral Atlas. Coming from a conservation biology background, she was the in-country manager and primary investigator for the Mongolian Bankhar Dog Project for two years, working towards culturally oriented solutions to human-wildlife conflict issues among nomadic herding communities. She has also worked as a marine observer collecting management data for Alaskan crab fisheries and other data collection positions. She received her MSc in Conservation Biology from University of Kent in the United Kingdom in 2019. Her expertise includes program development, quantitative and qualitative analysis, and community-supported conservation strategies.