Pembroke Fellow Dr Amy Dickman Awarded St Louis Zoo Conservation Award

Pembroke’s Kaplan Senior Research Fellow in Wild Field Conservation, Dr Amy Dickman, was recently honoured for her work, receiving the 2016 St Louis Zoo Conservation Award on 17th November. Dr Dickman is the Director of the Ruaha Carnivore Project (RCP), which develops effective conservation strategies for large carnivores in Tanzania’s remote Ruaha landscape. RCP is part of the University of Oxford’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU).

Dr Dickman and her team have been researching carnivore ecology and reducing human-carnivore conflict in Ruaha, Tanzania— one of Africa’s remaining great wildernesses. This land encompasses the Ruaha National Park, which is the second largest park in Africa and a vital area for remaining carnivore populations, supporting about 10 percent of all lions left in the continent.

The RCP works with partners in Tanzania to gather data on carnivore numbers and ecology, in order to develop appropriate conservation strategies. They also work with local communities to effectively reduce human-carnivore conflict. Ultimately the RCP initiative will have a lasting impact for both the wildlife and people of this globally important landscape.

Dr Jeffrey P. Bonner and Dana Brown, President and CEO of St Louis Zoo commented on her accomplishments as a Conservationist and her ‘remarkable progress through her tireless commitment to saving wild things and wild places.’

Dr Dickman said:‘Receiving this award has been a huge honour, and it reflects the incredible hard work and dedication of our entire Ruaha Carnivore Project team in Tanzania, who work tirelessly to protect local communities, improve livelihoods and reduce carnivore killings.’

She continued: ‘St Louis Zoo’s WildCare Institute has been our longest-standing supporter, and with the help of them and other partners, we have produced the first scientific data on Ruaha’s globally important carnivore populations, and helped reduce the pressing threat of human-carnivore conflict. This has had significant benefits for both people and predators in the Ruaha landscape, and we are extremely grateful for this recognition, and for all the support we have received to make this conservation work possible.’

Dr Dickman has spent the past eighteen years working to save carnivores in Africa; she was first based in Namibia with the Cheetah Conservation Fund, and has been in Tanzania for the past twelve years. You can find out more about her recent activities here.