Sally Sinclair

PhD Title: Strategies that countries are taking to achieve their 30x30 commitment and outcomes of these strategies for fishing communities.

Sally is a PhD student at DICE, University of Kent, funded by the Leverhulme Trust. Prior to this, Sally completed her BSc (Hons) in Zoology at the University of Exeter, with a year at Monash University (AUS), and her MSc in International Nature Conservation between the University of Goettingen (DE) and Lincoln University (NZ). For her MSc research project, Sally conducted a qualitative impact evaluation on a large-scale behaviour change effecting the historic bird feather trade in the UK.

Sally has experience in marine fieldwork in the tropics, collecting data on seagrass health for Perhentian Marine Research Station, and in applying national legislation through working in the Natural England wildlife licensing team.  

Sally's PhD uses an interdisciplinary approach to investigate the social impacts of marine area protection, such as Marine Protected Areas and marine Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures, on fishers. There is a growing appreciation of the social impacts of conservation measures on communities, though knowledge on this is still lacking. Sally is interested in methods that are inclusive of a range of actors and knowledge types, and will conduct fieldwork in the tropics to inform her research in this area.

Sally has a particular interest in better integrating evaluation into conservation measures, and in how behaviour change can be enacted to improve conservation and social outcomes in marine environments.

Publications

Sinclair SL, Rubino EC, Veríssimo D. Environmental crimes are overlooked in global enforcement: an analysis of Interpol Red Notices. Oryx. Published online 2025:1-3. doi:10.1017/S0030605325101592

Jabado, R. W., Morata, A. Z. A., Bennett, R. H., Finucci, B., Ellis, J. R., Fowler, S. L., Grant, M. I., Barbosa Martins, A. P., & Sinclair, S. L. (Eds.). (2024). The global status of sharks, rays, and chimaeras. IUCN/SSC Shark Specialist Group, IUCN. https://doi.org/10.59216/ssg.gsrsrc.2024  

ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-0274-6572

Supervised by Dr Rachel Seary (University of Kent), Professor Zoe Davies (University of Kent) and Dr Ana Spalding (Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute).