Funded PhD: Illegal wildlife trade & impacts of wildlife farming
Jacob Phelps
What are the conservation and livelihood
impacts of wildlife farming?
Deadline: 14 Feb. 2016. Contact Jacob Phelps (j.phelps(at)lancaster.ac.uk)
with expressions of interest, prior to the deadline.
More details: goo.gl/FTMJwa
Illegal wildlife trade remains a leading threat to global biodiversity. Wildlife farming (also known as captive breeding, ranching, cultivation, aquaculture) is an often proposed strategy through which to reduce pressures on wild populations, while continuing to satisfy consumer demand with legal, sustainably farmed alternatives. However, wildlife farming has been subject to little scrutiny, and experiences to date seem to have yielded mixed conservation and livelihood outcomes. Related debates are increasingly contentious, and at the forefront of global fora (e.g., CITES Standing Committee 66).
To enable more evidence-based decision-making, this research will
explore the impacts of wildlife farming on (a) biodiversity
conservation, particularly harvesting of targeted wild
populations, (b) other species (e.g., feedstocks), (c) broader habitats
(e.g., rangelands for ranched taxa), and (d) local community livelihoods
and rights. Research will involve both meta-analysis of diverse taxa of flora and fauna, as well as field-based research on target species (e.g., Panthera tigris, Andrias davidianus, Orchidaceae, Ursus thibetanus, Salmo salar, Pecari tajacu).
The PhD will be co-supervised by Jacob Phelps (Lancaster) Luke Parry (Lancaster) and Duan Biggs (Queensland).
Who should apply: We are seeking applications from UK, EU and
international candidates with a Masters degree in a relevant field.
Candidates should have a demonstrated interested in conservation,
experience with quantitative methods, and an interest in expanding their
quantitative social science skills and engaging in policy dialogues.
Candidates should ideally have experience writing scientific publications
and with field research in the tropics.