Harrison Carter

Research Interests

My pronouns are he/him


I am a PhD researcher with the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU) and Interdisciplinary Centre for Conservation Science (ICSS) at the University of Oxford. With a background in finance and management consulting in London, my research explores realistic pathways for economic systems to better incentivise coexistence between people and the natural world. I lead the Incentivising Conservation research group within WildCRU and hold ongoing expert advisory roles supporting the design and scaling of nature finance interventions. I lecture on Oxford executive education and school access programmes, co-supervise PhD and Masters researchers, and work as a filmmaker and presenter on impact documentaries that aim to engage wider audiences with conservation optimism and local realities of project work.

My applied research focuses on the development and implementation of financial and non-financial incentives for conservation, with particular interest in sustainable conservation finance mechanisms linked to threatened species and wildlife that can be dangerous to live alongside, including venomous reptiles and large carnivores. Alongside my PhD, I am Director of Conservation at the Thousand Year Trust in Cornwall, where I support the restoration of Atlantic temperate rainforest. The Trust’s work has featured in outlets including the BBC, The Guardian, The Spectator, the Woodland Trust, and South West Rainforest Alliance reports. We are the winners of the 2026 Defender Awards, and 2025 winners of the On The Edge conservation fund to grow rainforest on ropes. A central ambition of my work is to create opportunities for exchange between UK restoration projects and global field sites, strengthening collaboration, innovation, and public curiosity about the natural world.

I am also a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, a member of The Explorers Club, and an Associate at the University of Exeter’s Centre for Ecology and Conservation (CEC).