MrBen Parker

Ben is a doctoral researcher who straddles Imperial and the Zoological Society of London. He is supervised by Professor Tobias from the former and Professor Pettorelli and Professor Durant from the latter. He is part of Cohort 10 of the Science and Solutions for a Changing Planet Doctoral Training Partnership (SSCP DTP) of the Grantham Institute.

Ben’s research focuses on ecosystem functioning in the face of issues like environmental degradation and environmental perturbations (e.g., droughts, floods, fires, etc). This research primarily draws on the ever-expanding wealth of satellite remote sensing data, as well as ground-based data. Please refer to the 'Research' section for further details.

In terms of wider experience, Ben has had the pleasure of working on a range of projects with clear management and policy implications for conservation. He has worked, for instance, with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) to examine the attitudes and perspectives of communities and rangers towards conservation activities, with the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU) of the University of Oxford on park-people relations and wildlife trade, and with the United Nations on high-value, transnational illegal wildlife trade. These endeavours yielded various publications, reports, and other forms of output (see 'Research' section). Plus, these various experiences built on and developed the knowledge and skills that he gained through his BA in Biological Sciences and MSc in Biodiversity, Conservation and Management from the University of Oxford, as well as his PGCert in International Affairs from King’s College London.