Valerie Mitchell Scholar and first year WildCRU DPhil candidate Jasmin Willis has recently received the distinguished Society for Conservation Biology’s Graduate Student Research Fellowship Award. This prestigious honour, bestowed annually, acknowledges the exceptional contributions of graduate students whose research significantly advances the science and practice of conserving biological diversity.
Selected as one of the ten winners from a highly competitive pool of fifty applicants, Jasmin secured a $1,000 grant. This award is specifically tailored to provide financial assistance to graduate students, aiding them in meeting field expenses essential for the successful completion of their degree.
Eduardo Gallo-Cajiao, Chair of the Awards Committee, highlighted the novelty and excellence of Jasmin's project when announcing this year’s awards, saying, “The projects submitted this year were very exciting and competitive with many novel approaches, including equity and feminism.”
This funding will play a pivotal role in supporting Jasmin's upcoming fieldwork in Ghana, scheduled for next year. Jasmin’s research focuses on sustainable wild meat management, aiming to ensure livelihood security for communities dependent on this resource while mitigating the adverse impacts of overexploitation, including population decline and biodiversity loss.
More specifically, Jasmin’s planned fieldwork in Kumasi, Ghana, aims to:
- Identify the roles and influence of women in the wild meat system.
- Explore the impact of wild meat income on women’s livelihoods and wellbeing.
- Assess the involvement of women in wild meat governance, policy, and research and its impact on agendas in these areas.
During her stay in Kumasi, the second largest city in Ghana, Jasmin plans to visit key markets where wild meat is sold. She will conduct interviews with women working as market vendors and food stall owners, engaging with senior individuals involved in the wild meat system, including the market 'queen,' researchers, conservationists, and policymakers. Jasmin is collaborating with researchers at the University of Ghana in Accra, fostering a collaborative approach to her research.
This recognition and support from the Society for Conservation Biology underscores the significance of Jasmin's work and its potential to contribute meaningfully to sustainability in relation to the wild meat trade.
About the Valerie Mitchell Scholars
LMH and WildCRU (the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, part of the Department of Biology at the University of Oxford) currently support three Valerie Mitchell LMH/WildCRU Graduate Scholars, all of whom are pursuing DPhils in different aspects of wildlife conservation. The fully-funded scholarships were made possible thanks to the generosity of LMH alumna Valerie Mitchell (1971, Modern Languages).
You can read more about all three Valerie Mitchell Scholars here.