I have been a lecturer in Conservation Social Science at the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE) since 1999. My academic background is interdisciplinary, with a BSc in Zoology and Psychology from the University of Reading and a PhD in behavioural ecology from the University of Stirling. Prior to my appointment at Kent, I spent several years away from academia, working in non-governmental organisations in both conservation and rural development. My field experience has been principally in Peru and in Cote d’Ivoire in West Africa. Recent areas of research have included issues of participation, collaborative management and environmental governance; the role of traditional knowledge in natural resource management, and the relationship between indigenous peoples and conservation. I have also written extensively about the challenges of interdisciplinary approaches in conservation and have recently published the first comprehensive textbook on social science methods in the field of conservation.

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Recent Publications

Newing, H. 2011. Conducting Research in Conservation: A Social Science Perspective. Routledge. 376 pages. ISBN 978-0-415-45792-7

Newing, H.S. 2010. Interdisciplinary training in environmental conservation: definitions, progress and future directions. Environmental Conservation 37(4): 410-418.

Newing, H. 2010.Bridging the gap: interdisciplinarity, biocultural diversity and conservation. Pp. 23 – 40 in: Pilgrim, S. and Pretty, J. Eds.Nature and culture: rebuilding lost connections.London: Earthscan.

 

Full list of publications

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Teaching

Masters level:

Convenor of the MSc programme in Conservation and Rural Development

Convenor of the following modules:

DI876 Research Methods for Social Science 

DI878 Social Science perspectives on Conservation

DI880 Conservation and Community Development 

BSc Level:

Convenor of BSc in Wildlife Conservation

Convenor of the following modules: 

DI506 Tourism and conservation

DI520 Conservation and communities 

DI528 Conservation Social Science: methods and research design

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Research interests

• Conservation, rural development and social change
• Theory and practice of interdisciplinary research
• Collaborative management, social capital and environmental governance
• Tourism, conservation and local communities
• The interaction between traditional knowledge, technical assistance and rational natural resource management
• Indigenous peoples, conservation and biocultural diversity
• International forest policy

Recent research projects

Collaborative wildlife management and changing social contexts in Amazonian Peru

Implementation of International Commitments on Traditional Forest Related Knowledge

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PhD students

Constanza Monterrubio: Community Conserved Areas vs. Private Protected Areas, differences in policy and practical implications for communities and biodiversity conservation.

Emily Caruso: Being at the Centre: Self and Empire among Ene Ashaninka People in Peruvian Amazonia. ESRC CASE studentship with Rainforest Foundation UK. Joint supervision with Daniela Peluso.

Olivia Woodburne: Navigating moral dilemmas: participatory development among the egalitarian BaAka of the Central African Republic. ESRC CASE studentship with Forest Peoples Programme.

Erika Ikemoto: Agroforestry, innovation and protected areas in the Brazilian Amazon

Lucy d'Auvergne (joint supervision with Tanya Humle): Investigation into the relationship between commercial development and chimpanzee conservation in the Diecke Forest, Guinea, West Africa.

Meed Mbidzo: Community Forest governance in support of sustainable development: A Namibian Case Study

Kat May (joint supervision with Melissa Demian): Indigenous Protected Areas (IPAs) in Australia

Previous PhD students

Laura Penn (completed 2005): An exploration of zoo theatre’s contribution to the directives of zoos: a case study from the Central Park Zoo in New York.

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National / International activities:

Trustee of Rainforest Foundation UK (2009-present)

Founder Trustee of the Tambopata Reserve Society (TReeS) (1985-present)

Advisory Board member, TOFT (Travel Operators for Tigers) (2006-present);

Steering group member, Working Group on Indigenous and Community Conserved Areas (IUCN) (2007 – present).

Member of editorial board for African Journal of Ecology

Member of editorial board for Berghahn book series: Studies in Environmental Anthropology and Ethnobiology

Member of Society for Conservation Biology (SCB); SCB Social Science Working Group; Society of Applied Anthropology; Zoological Society of London (ZSL); IUCN policy groups CEESP, TILCEPA, TGER.

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