On this episode of Through the Human Geography Lens, hosts Terri Ryan and Gwyneth Holt talk with Meredith Gore, an Associate Professor within the Department of Geographical Sciences at the University of Maryland, College Park. Dr. Gore is a convergence researcher and social scientist who shares her work in conservation criminology, restorative justice and participatory mapping techniques in Madagascar.
00:45 What is a convergence researcher? - a discussion of system science and sorting wicked problems
https://beta.nsf.gov/funding/learn/research-types/learn-about-convergence-research
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicked_problem
01:50 How did you select this complex set of social science topics?
04:00 What do you mean by "conservation crime"?
05:45 How did you select your focus from a bottomless well of related issues, and who's helping you?
06:30 Working example of the many problems: illegal sea cucumber harvesting
07:00 Madagascar, the trade in critically-endangered ploughshare tortoises, and the associated deforestation.
https://www.turtleconservancy.org/programs/ploughshare-tortoise
07:45 Combating wildlife trafficking and, in particular, the state of elephant conservation, supported by data and mapping.
09:00 Southern Africa: Vultures ("ecosystem engineers") are also killed because they reveal the location of the dead elephant as they circle, potentially exposing poachers.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/21/world/africa/vultures-poisoned-botswana-poachers-elephants.html
10:00 Approaching wicked problems with data.
11:00 Restorative justice through collaboration with former turtle traffickers.
12:15 Affecting the market in illegal animal parts through education.
13:00 Distinguishing between legal and illegal wildlife trade in purchasing.
14:00 Reasons for poaching unrelated to profit, and the use of participatory mapping in Madagascar.
https://www.lemurconservationnetwork.org/on-the-ground-meredith-gore/
15:00 Including women in non-accusatory participatory mapping through projective questioning.
17:30 Have you witnessed much change in Madagascar over the past 15 years?
19:00 The visible impact of the Madagascar drought on land-use changes and the human condition.
20:30 If you could solve one global challenge, what would it be?
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