During my undergraduate years studying Zoology at Cambridge University I developed a strong interest in tropical conservation ecology, spending two consecutive summers assisting on a project examining the population biology and habitat requirements of orang-utans in Indonesian Borneo. I finished my bachelors with a dissertation on the arthropod biodiversity harboured by epiphytic ferns in Malaysian Borneo, and have been working in the tropics ever since. Three years of this time were spent in Botswana, working in eco-tourism and assisting on research projects for large carnivores and rare birds, following which I returned to academia for an MSc in Applied Ecology and Conservation at the University of East Anglia. This led me to Vietnam, where I studied how local hunters’ knowledge could be applied to the conservation of pangolin species endangered by the illegal wildlife trade. Having developed an interest in the sustainable use of natural resources, my PhD is based in the western Brazilian Amazon, trying to understand how non-timber forest products can be sustainably exploited in a manner that contributes positively to the development of rural livelihoods. I am particularly interested in the extraction of natural oils produced by tree genera such as Copaifera and Carapa, and my work examines a range of the issues involved, from plant population ecology to socio-economic appraisal.
Publications
Newton, P., Nguyen Van T., Roberton, S. & Bell, D. 2008. Pangolins in peril: using hunters’ knowledge to conserve elusive species in Vietnam. Endangered Species Research 6: 41–53
Duckworth, J.W., Steinmitz, R., Anak Pattanavibool, Than Zaw, Do Tuoc & Newton, P. 2008. Manis pentadactyla. In: IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species < www.iucnredlist.org> Duckworth, J.W., Anak Pattanavibool, Newton, P. & Nguyen Van Nhuan 2008. Manis javanica. In: IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species < www.iucnredlist.org> |