Joshua Powell

2019–Present: PhD Researcher, London NERC DTP, Institute of Zoology and University College London (UCL)
2018–2019: Policy Advisor, Department for the Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra)
2017–Present: Co-founder & Expedition Leader, Rangers Without Borders
2017: Churchill Fellow (New Zealand, Australia, Fiji), Winston Churchill Memorial Trust UK
2014–2016: MES Master of Environmental Studies, concentration: Environmental Biology, University of Pennsylvania
2011–2014: BSc (Hons) Geography, University of Nottingham

Research Interests

My research interests concern the ecology and conservation of rare and globally threatened species, with a primary focus on terrestrial mammals, particularly large carnivores. My current research investigates opportunities and challenges for the transboundary conservation of the Endangered Amur tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) and other large carnivores in north-east Asia. This necessitates the use of a range of research techniques from the biological and social sciences within an inter-disciplinary framework, in order to evaluate both threats to transboundary Amur tiger populations, at a local and regional scale, and potential opportunities and limitations for conservation interventions, including international wildlife law, conservation translocations, and mitigation of human-tiger conflict. Funding is provided by the London NERC Doctoral Training Programme (DTP). I am a visiting research student in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Seoul National University, in South Korea, and a visiting researcher with the Tiger and Leopard Conservation Fund in Korea (KTLCF). As part of my broader research interests in the conservation of globally threatened species, I also maintain interests in the role and capacity of wildlife rangers, as well as island conservation, the subject of my Churchill Fellowship. I am a National Geographic Explorer and one of the faces of WWF’s #WWFVoices campaign on global biodiversity.

Supervisors

Prof. Sarah Durant, Institute of Zoology (ZSL)

Prof. Jan Axmacher, University College London

Dr Linda Kerley, ANO Amur in partnership with ZSL, Russia

Dr John Ewen, Institute of Zoology (ZSL)

Dr John Linnell, Norwegian Institute for Nature Research

Publications

Powell, J. (2022). Arctic Expedition Tourism: Participant Perspectives. Exploration Revealed.

Powell, J., Axmacher, J.C., Linnell, J.D.C. and Durant, S.M. (2021). Diverse locations and a long history: historical context for urban leopards (Panthera pardus) in the early Anthropocene from Seoul, Korea. Frontiers in Conservation Science. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fcosc.2021.765911