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Nigel Leader-Williams BVSc, PhD, ScD, MRCVS

Director of Conservation Leadership and Fellow of Churchill College

Nigel Leader-Williams works to build capacity in conservation through interdisciplinary research and teaching that sits within both natural and social sciences, with a focus on large mammals that conflict with human interests

Biography

Career

Qualifications

Research

Research interests

My research interests lie primarily in:

Early doctoral research with the British Antarctic Survey focused on the ecology and management of reindeer introduced early in the 20th century to the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia, where they faced a novel environment that lacked predators and intra-specific competitors. This research served as a model for later studies of introduced mammals on other southern islands, and showed how differences in the nature and amounts of winter food had served to influence the population trajectories of introduced species.

Post-doctoral research with the Large Animal Research Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge focused on the ecology and conservation of black rhinoceros in Luangwa Valley, Zambia. Threatened by illegal exploitation, little was known of the management or ecology of one of Africa's largest remaining populations of black rhinos and elephants. Although rhinos became locally extinct in Luangwa Valley, definitive strategies were formulated to manage rhinos and elephants under intense pressure from illegal exploitation, and the study provided the first scientific assessment of the effectiveness of conservation funding.

As Chief Technical Advisor in Tanzania's Department of Wildlife, I established a planning unit to develop an information management system for the wildlife sector, and to create policies to enhance the conservation and economic potential of wildlife. Responsible to the Director of Wildlife, I initiated status assessments, organised appropriate consultative workshops, and completed national policies and management plans, including a review of the complex institutional structure of Tanzania's wildlife sector. Tanzania now moves slowly forward with implementing community-based conservation through locally managed wildlife management areas.

At the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, my research group both investigated conflicts between conservation, people and other large mammals, and built research capacity in biodiversity-rich developing countries. Issues studied included: human-animal conflict, community-based conservation, common property resources, sustainable resource use, wildlife tourism, protected area management and planning, law enforcement and the implementation of international conventions. To address such issues, we studied a wide range of species including: African elephants and black rhinos, giraffes, mountain gorillas, bonobos, orangutans, West African manatees, saola, Przewalski's horses, tigers, lions, Ethiopian wolves, Andean bears, striped hyenas, Komodo dragons and Mexican reptiles, and undertook research in a wide range of countries including: Bolivia, Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Lebanon, Mexico, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.

International conservation activities

I have worked closely with IUCN on various issues:

I organised the Society of Conservation Biology's 16th Annual Meeting in Canterbury in July 2002, the first ever meeting of SCB to be held in Europe. This internationally diverse meeting attracted 1050 delegates from 74 countries, around the meeting theme of People and Conservation.

I co-organised, with Bill Adams, the Zoological Society of London symposium Trade-offs in Conservation: deciding what to save, held on 1-2 November 2007. The symposium explored some of the difficult choices that conservationists face when striving to conserve species and their habitats, and the resulting volume was published in September 2010.

Publications

Selected books

Selected papers and book chapters

Teaching

External activities