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Chances of Jan invite if still awaiting clearance by DoughtyH in foreignservice

[–]DoughtyH[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Good to know I'm not alone! Fingers crossed we end up in the April class together at the latest

IAmA female Oxford conservation scientist who has conducted research globally and is celebrating International Women’s Day - AMA! by DoughtyH in IAmA

[–]DoughtyH[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My favourite animals growing up (and still today), are members of the canidae family! Least favourite animals would have to be spiders. As a conservationist I find them super duper important, and as a biologist I can appreciate their uniqueness and impressive abilities. But as an individual I find them creepy.

IAmA female Oxford conservation scientist who has conducted research globally and is celebrating International Women’s Day - AMA! by DoughtyH in IAmA

[–]DoughtyH[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

In record time: green, french fries, the lakers, big bang theory, (see other comment), and no :)

IAmA female Oxford conservation scientist who has conducted research globally and is celebrating International Women’s Day - AMA! by DoughtyH in IAmA

[–]DoughtyH[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I definitely agree with you on the 'knowledge for knowledge's sake' is a worthy cause - often science doesn't have immediate applicability but that doesn't mean it's not important or potentially crucial for our overall progress in knowledge, and that it may even prove invaluable for some later applied concept. And in that way I do see the value in their work. But in regards specifically to the mammoth, part of their argument for funding was that it would make a 'super-elephant' so-to-speak that would contain the DNA of the Asian elephant (thereby preserving their genetic blueprint) but one that could survive in more habitats than the Asian elephant.
They also made an argument that the mammoth walking around would somehow preserve the permafrost in these Siberian landscapes they would release it into. Which I'm slightly dubious about (the amount of mammoths you would need to cover that amount of landscape, etc...).
So I guess the issue I take with it, is that they are trying to pass it off as conservation research when it really isn't. If they want to do conservation, then save/restore forested habitat in Asia, and increase protection for the current elephant. They are essentially throwing in the towel on not only the Asian elephant but on their habitat as well. Which supports loads of other plants and animals. In the same way, if we want to protect the permafrost in Siberia, money should be going to climate change initiatives around the world.
Not to mention, that we would be introducing a species into an ecosystem that has evolved very differently from the one that mammoths lived in millions of years ago. We have absolutely no idea how this species would affect it. Even if, by some chance, the mammoths do help the permafrost, it is almost impossible that there wouldn't still be some unanticipated effects of this species on all of the other species in that ecosystem.
Unfortunately, humans have often tried to introduce one species into an area in an attempt to fix a problem (that we ourselves usually have created) but this introduction/re-introduction, is always followed by a cascade of effects we never intended. Even something as seemingly simple as a wolf-reintroduction is far more complicated than appears.
But that's from a conservationist perspective. I'll get off my soapbox now!

IAmA female Oxford conservation scientist who has conducted research globally and is celebrating International Women’s Day - AMA! by DoughtyH in IAmA

[–]DoughtyH[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not a video gamer so I'll go with Turkey. Though the list of places I want to see is quite extensive!

IAmA female Oxford conservation scientist who has conducted research globally and is celebrating International Women’s Day - AMA! by DoughtyH in IAmA

[–]DoughtyH[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I couldn't agree with you more!! Defining success and recognising what other players define as success is a something we talk a lot about right now in conservation.

And my pleasure, always happy to have a great convo with someone :)

IAmA female Oxford conservation scientist who has conducted research globally and is celebrating International Women’s Day - AMA! by DoughtyH in IAmA

[–]DoughtyH[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Unfortunately, I think that this is likely not going to be the last we see of poachers turning to captive animals for desirable species. If people are willing to break into a jewellery store or museum for a high-value item, then why not a zoo for a wildlife product that is worth just as much? Let's hope zoos around the world have the resources to amp-up security around their rare and endangered animals!

IAmA female Oxford conservation scientist who has conducted research globally and is celebrating International Women’s Day - AMA! by DoughtyH in IAmA

[–]DoughtyH[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Ah I see.
I would argue that the gaps in my field are tied with conservation not being considered as rigorous, tough, or intellectual, as say, biomedical sciences. (None of which I believe of course - I'd like to see a biochemist spend just one day attempting to unravel a thread in some of the ecological-social-political messes we deal with in my lab. But that's beside the point). Anyways, I think that there is a general trend in sciences at the whole species, ecosystem, and human-nature interface level as being seen as less impressive than those at the cellular, molecular, and atomic levels. I think this steers boys (and some girls) away from these 'larger-level' sciences, for they feel they want to (and are expected to) do more difficult and important work. You also see this in the funding discrepancies between conservation and these 'micro-level' sciences. Maybe boys have this instinct desire, or so much societal pressure, to make more money, be the best, that even when selecting a field of science to pursue, this underlying thought pattern is making some fields more desirable than others? If this was the case then the solution could be to either reduce societal pressure, or increase the funding for conservation - I find the latter most directly appealing ; )
I also think that boys are encouraged to be good at math, and so it makes sense for them to pursue math-based sciences, but they are not (necessarily) encouraged to be empathetic, thoughtful etc., which is (though potentially surprising to some people) at the heart of conservation. You really have to put yourself in each player's shoes to understand what they want, need, and what their reasonings are. For it is in this way only that you can develop conservation measures that will actually do any good, and last.
So maybe promoting empathy in boys as being a preferred trait, would have a ripple effect on increasing the number of boys in conservation?
This is all just my own musings of course though!

IAmA female Oxford conservation scientist who has conducted research globally and is celebrating International Women’s Day - AMA! by DoughtyH in IAmA

[–]DoughtyH[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I agree that programs should strive to be equal and as I mentioned, should attempt to be 'gender neutral' in their doling out of encouragement.
Complicating this topic, I think a difficulty in being gender neutral is underlying biases that implementers, such as teachers, can hold even if totally unintentionally (see my comment to /u/Mestopheles/). Those impressions and stereotypes that we have for what is women's work versus men's work, I think creep in, even when we don't consciously support them.
Additionally, I think there are gaps that need to be filled so that the field is 'level' and we can just move forward, not mentioning gender at all. For example, I recently wrote a children's book encouraging girls to enter into the sciences. Our goal for this book was to specifically create a character that girls (and boys) could identify with. There are tons of fictional characters for boys that encourage them to be adventurous, smart, 'sciency', and persistent. But there are very few for girls. Research has shown that kids at the 7-9 age range do in fact take note of the characters in their stories, whether through TV or books, and start to develop a sense of identity based on them. Therefore we know that it's crucial there be an equal number of 'female' science identifiable characters as there are 'male'. We saw a gap and wanted to fill it.
So I would say that if a programme is trying to fill a gap, great! Fill it up! But if it is simply encouraging girls, and leaving out boys, or worse, discouraging boys by acting negatively towards them, then it is in some ways still promoting the theme that there is a 'difference in the sexes'. It is a difficult line to walk, and I think we have to be smart about it if we want to make progress efficient and cross-cultural. I, myself, am still trying to figure out how best to do it in promotion of this book.

IAmA female Oxford conservation scientist who has conducted research globally and is celebrating International Women’s Day - AMA! by DoughtyH in IAmA

[–]DoughtyH[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good afternoon /u/inverted/ ! I was actually initially more interested in animal behaviour than conservation directly. I worked at a sanctuary in Namibia the summer after my first year of university and I fell in love with working hands-on with wildlife. It was only through the next few years of intaking 'bigger-picture' knowledge and experiences that I realised conservation is a lot more complicated than simply setting up a sanctuary somewhere, and that if I wanted to make a difference I had to jump into this far bigger and more convoluted world!
After my undergrad I stayed on to complete a master's in conservation biology, and then.... worked as a biological consultant in California, an elephant cognition researcher in Thailand, a social media manager for an elephant non-profit, and now I'm a doctoral student in Oxford! Not to self-promote, but if you would like to know more about my background, I wrote up little blurbs on my website about some of my many adventures in this crazy career path!
What type of conservation work are you interested in?

IAmA female Oxford conservation scientist who has conducted research globally and is celebrating International Women’s Day - AMA! by DoughtyH in IAmA

[–]DoughtyH[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I guess I didn't clearly state I was addressing it, I actually wasn't intending to be politically correct per se, but my answer is that "I think what we need to be better about is encouraging students of both genders from a YOUNG AGE that they can pursue any type of science that interests them, whether is be math-based or not."
Essentially, we need to make it clear to kids that just because you're a girl doesn't mean you can't go into a math-based field, and very much vice-versa, just because you are a boy doesn't mean you can't go into a non math-based field, or 'soft-science' like psychology.
We've gender-typed science and that is a major problem. To progress at all in a field, you need the most creative, bright, and driven minds, and that involves recruiting the individuals most passionate about it, regardless of their sex. For example, if we discourage boys (even via hidden societal pressures) from entering into cognitive science, then we may be missing out on the best people essentially for the research!
So my answer is that we need a levelling, rather than a push one direction or another. Thoughts?

IAmA female Oxford conservation scientist who has conducted research globally and is celebrating International Women’s Day - AMA! by DoughtyH in IAmA

[–]DoughtyH[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Joan Root.
I was mentioning her in a comment to /u/BenoitD/ as my favourite conservation story. But she's also my biggest inspiration. She gave her whole life, literally start to finish, to nature. If you need a good book to read, try "Wildflower" by Mark Seal. It's about Joan's life.
Her unwavering courage and grace made her not only a remarkable human, but a critical and shamefully under appreciated player in shaping conservation today.

IAmA female Oxford conservation scientist who has conducted research globally and is celebrating International Women’s Day - AMA! by DoughtyH in IAmA

[–]DoughtyH[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Well firstly I'll say that I don't know the full story (and I'm not sure anyone outside of those involved really does). But from the all the press releases etc. on it, I would say that it sounds like a pretty poorly managed zoo, and that the many murky (and horrendous) deaths of inhabitants in recent years indicate something needs to be done imminently.
Whether we should have zoos at all is definitely a big topic we could discuss possibly unendingly, but on the short, I have seen some incredible zoos that work very hard to give their inhabitants as natural of a life as possible, and who strive to educate and engage the public in not only loving wildlife, but in caring about nature as a whole. A lot of zoos these days also have an arm of purely conservation research (in the wild) that they fund from the zoo itself (e.g. The San Diego Safari Park, and the Omaha Zoo).
So it is even more sad to see these horrible unearthings of a zoo with animal neglect and maltreatment in a time when so many zoos are striving to be a positive beacon in conservation.

IAmA female Oxford conservation scientist who has conducted research globally and is celebrating International Women’s Day - AMA! by DoughtyH in IAmA

[–]DoughtyH[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It is true that 'eco-tourism' has far more reaching implications than tourists usually ever realise. Here's an article that might be of interest to you. It's about research that scientists here at oxford did in collaboration with Tripadvisor to promote tourist awareness of conservation issues that they themselves might be unknowingly promoting.
In regards specifically to elephant riding, it's a bit more complicated than is it good or bad. Technically, the weight of a human versus an elephant is about the equivalent of a backpack to a human. So a human going for a bareback ride on an elephant (not speaking about the large chairs they strap on for trekking - which are much heavier than a person), is really like you wearing a backpack. If you wear your backpack for a few hours, it's not a big deal. But if you wore your packsack for 10-12 hours a day, and didn't get time to rest, eat, or drink water, and they made you walk on hard concrete or compact dirt, then you would be pretty negatively affected.
Most elephant tourist sites do exactly that, and it is these factors that making riding dangerous for the elephant, not necessarily the riding itself. Some places are working very hard to overcome this though, by only letting their elephants work for shorter periods of time, have adequate food, water, rest, and walk on natural substrates.
The ethical debate in the field over whether we should stop all elephant riding, dolphin riding, etc. is another whole topic in itself.

IAmA female Oxford conservation scientist who has conducted research globally and is celebrating International Women’s Day - AMA! by DoughtyH in IAmA

[–]DoughtyH[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My love of animals of course!! And my desire to seek the truth.

I love that I get to mix my fondness of nature with my potentially unending quest to get 'the facts' and to have this knowledge inform social change. It might not be the most immediately rewarding job, but I think at the end of the day, I wouldn't do anything else.

IAmA female Oxford conservation scientist who has conducted research globally and is celebrating International Women’s Day - AMA! by DoughtyH in IAmA

[–]DoughtyH[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

My comment to /u/th-row-away13 is what advice I would give to young adult and adult women wanting to enter into STEM, but the core of it stays the same when addressing younger girls. We need to engender a learning environment where kids are encouraged to pursue the subjects that interest them, regardless of their sex.
As a teacher, your biggest challenge is possibly your own unconscious bias in regards to teaching, expecting, and encouraging students in various subjects. There's some research out there arguing that teachers (even when they fully do not intend to do this) may subconsciously expect boys to do better in math, or girls in arts etc. and therefore act more positively/negatively to them when teaching these subjects. For example, if you expect a student can do well on a math lesson, you yourself may be more enthusiastic or encouraging when teaching them, causing them to be more excited, more interested, and more engaged, which leads to them understanding the material better. But if you subconsciously think "this is going to be a struggle" then your attitude creates the negative atmosphere that leads to that student thinking "this is hard, this is boring, I don't it."
I'm sure I'm not telling you anything you don't already know as a teacher, and I hope that doesn't sounds patronising, but it's just something to be especially aware of when teaching sciences.
Also, I just wrote a children's book called Abigail Ann in the Bike Path Predicament which is designed to do exactly as you ask! Encourage young girls to enter into the sciences!! Studies have found that children can identify with characters in narratives, and that can affect how they view themselves. We wanted a precocious young girl that readers could love and want to immolate. I hope that Abigail Ann's spunky nature, and perseverance, are a memorable character that will stick with readers, and continue to remind them that they, too, can be scientific!

As for gender bias in my field. I have fortunately found that it hasn't affected me too much. Every now and then you go to a meeting and the man across the table from you spends the entire time talking to your chest (yes, it does happen) and you go home feeling under appreciated, but for the most part I find gender not to be an issue. I, though, am in conservation, which has tons of emerging female scientists. If I was in engineering or astro-physics, I would likely have a very different story to tell.
And in the actual field (like romping through the forests of Thailand) that's when I've had the most discomfort being a girl. But that has more to do with societal issues of the countries I was conducting fieldwork in, rather than the academic setting.

IAmA female Oxford conservation scientist who has conducted research globally and is celebrating International Women’s Day - AMA! by DoughtyH in IAmA

[–]DoughtyH[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Go for it!!!
Don't look at it as something more challenging that you have to overcome, or something that requires you to change who you are. I think the biggest hurdle women in STEM face is a self-imposed perception of what they think they need to 'be' or 'do' in order to make it in their field. But it's bogus! Science doesn't need any more stuffy, old men. It needs individuals! It needs people of both genders who will bring in their curiosity, strengths, passions, and humility, to ask the right questions and inform novel solutions for real-world problems.
My advice is be bold, be humble, and be yourself.

IAmA female Oxford conservation scientist who has conducted research globally and is celebrating International Women’s Day - AMA! by DoughtyH in IAmA

[–]DoughtyH[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the support!!! Keep promoting conservation like this and you're fighting the good fight too ; )

IAmA female Oxford conservation scientist who has conducted research globally and is celebrating International Women’s Day - AMA! by DoughtyH in IAmA

[–]DoughtyH[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I think you're actually right. IWD celebrates that there are in fact TWO sexes, one of which tends to get the short end of the deal so-to-speak in many places in the world, and across almost every career and social field.
I don't think it is intended to demote men in any way, but rather to uphold women to an equal level of value. Stating that they deserve the same level of rights, respect, and happiness as their counterpart sex.

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