SEES Fellows: Integrating biology and econometrics across multiple scales for sustainable wildlife trade management

American Museum Natural History, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

In this Award from the NSF Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability Fellows (SEES Fellows Program) Dr. Mary E. Blair from the American Museum of Natural History will carry out genetic measurements of slow lorises combined with socioeconomic studies of those people involved in the trade of these animals. This award has support from: the Biology Directorate, the Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences, and the Office of International and Integrative Activities. The proposed work will combine genetic information from slow lorises as well as socioeconomic data for individuals involved in the trade of these species, to test the hypothesis that the trade in these species is concentrated in Vietnam, which serves as a major transit market for trade within Southeast Asia and to study whether regional and international demand are more important than local factors in driving this trade. The work is unique in that it integrates socioeconomic and biological analyses at multiple scales to develop a better understanding of wildlife trade. The aim of studies like that proposed in this work is to better understand the socioeconomic drivers that influence the trade in wildlife. The ultimate aim of work like this is to better inform policy makers about the underlying social and economic drivers of this trade, with an eye towards developing sustainable management strategies to mitigate the threat to species from this trade. Dr. Blair will be working with collaborators Dr. Eleanor J. Sterling of the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation at the American Museum of Natural History, Prof. Gautam Sethi at Bard College's Center for Environmental Policy and Dr. Minh D. Le from the Centre for Natural Resources and Environmental Studies at Vietnam National University. Dr. Blair will also be mentoring young students in this project, and she will develop outreach materials for use in the United States and Vietnam. This project is supported under the NSF Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability Fellows (SEES Fellows) program, with the goal of helping to enable discoveries needed to inform actions that lead to environmental, energy and societal sustainability while creating the necessary workforce to address these challenges. With SEES Fellows support, this project will enable a promising early career researcher to establish themselves in an independent research career related to sustainability.