I am interested in the relationship between people and the environment and the need for accurate and cost effective monitoring methods. I am particularly interested in the use of social science for conservation as I believe the resource needs and ecological knowledge of local people should be understood and incorporated into conservation research if subsequent interventions are to be effective and sustainable.
This research aims to gain a better understanding of the role and implications of different sources and types of uncertainty when using local ecological knowledge for wildlife population monitoring, using interview-based occupancy analysis of bushmeat species and threats in a protected area (the Dja Faunal Reserve) in Cameroon as a case study.
I will: 1) investigate how interview-based occupancy analysis is affected by different types of uncertainty/bias within the case study; 2) Explore the trade-offs between cost, precision and accuracy when using interview-based occupancy analysis; 3) Quantify the status of, and threats to, hunted species in the Dja region, using interview-based occupancy analysis as a method and 4) Identify barriers to and the potential for the successful implementation of interview-based occupancy analysis for population monitoring in the Dja region and more broadly.
