Leverhulme project: Knowledge, understanding and the demand for ivory

The illegal wildlife trade is a key driver of biodiversity change. A PhD studentship is available to analyse ivory demand from biological (supply) and marketing (demand reduction) perspectives. Through fieldwork, you will collaborate with organisations that have run demand management or social marketing campaigns to evaluate their success in changing audiences’ knowledge, beliefs and behaviour. You will be based in the Leverhulme Centre for Anthropocene Biodiversity (LCAB) at the University of York, supervised by leading experts in this field, Colin Beale and Victoria Wells.

Working closely with international conservation organisations, you will explore:
- What makes a successful social marketing campaign in conservation, where success is increased knowledge and changes in beliefs and behaviours?
- Does social media amplify the effectiveness of campaigns?
- How sensitive are the rates of illegal activity to fluctuations in demand: what is the potential for campaigns to improve conservation outcomes?
- How should conservation funds be prioritised between interventions at source sites, at international borders or on demand reduction campaigns, considering both the conservation benefit and ethical implications?

Fieldwork will be conducted in Hong Kong, mainland China and Nairobi.

You will have an interest in conservation and marketing and be open to a wide range of methodologies and approaches. You will have, or be willing to gain, skills in social marketing, social media data analysis and analysis of economic and ecological data from elephant range states. You will have excellent communication and collaboration skills, sensitivity to ethical concerns and an ability to identify and comply with best practice when dealing with human data about illegal activities.

LCAB will provide you with opportunities to interact with other students and researchers across departments and institutions, and will offer additional training as required. Please check the LCAB website https://www.york.ac.uk/anthropocene-biodiversity/

An opportunity is also available to submit your own proposal for a fully funded studentship with LCAB.

The LCAB and the Department of Biology are committed to recruiting extraordinary future scientists regardless of age, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, disability, sexual orientation or career pathway to date. We understand that commitment and excellence can be shown in many ways and have built our recruitment process to reflect this. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds, particularly those underrepresented in science, who have curiosity, creativity and a drive to learn new skills.