I came to SMSC to expand my horizons not only in the field of conservation but also in terms of prospective job opportunities. I was convinced to join the CBS program by Professor Wood and Robert Barret, which was a very big leap for me due to the distance from my house and family. I knew I wanted to do something with conservation ever since I had an interest in anthropology. Working with people is a key part of conservation and anthropology requires a certain degree of understanding that other social sciences don't account for this was proven to me by listening to Dr. Songsasen, Mr. Hackman, and Mr. Jones speak about their conservation work.
Mr. Jones' experience really spoke to me as someone who seeks to work with indigenous groups in America and how he expressed disappointment in the Department of Fish and Wildlife for their disregard to the traditional ecological knowledge of the many different indigenous cultural groups of North America. I really liked his thoughts on the importance of listening and how true listening is different from hearing.
The next time we had a lecture with Mr. Jones would be about his work on tiger conservation and the illegal ivory trade. Mr. Jones talked about the importance of the African Elephant in its ecosystem and how much damage the ivory trade did to their population. The second point of his lecture was to inform us about CITES and their work protecting endangered species. The second part of his lecture was about his work with the Global Tiger Initiative. He discussed their plans to reintroduce and repopulate tigers across Asia and how important it is for the global community to come together, he referenced how Vladimir Putin was a keynote speaker at the meeting to launch the Global Tiger Initiative. My main takeaway was that influencing people by using cultural touchstones is key in getting someone to care about conservation.
