Talk on Resurrection? A Saiga Saga by Prof. Milner-Gulland (University of Oxford)_12th February 2021
Eleanor Milner-Gulland is Tasso Leventis Professor of Biodiversity at the University of Oxford. Her PhD was on the wildlife trade, with a focus on ivory, rhino horn and saiga antelopes. Her research group (the Interdisciplinary Centre for Conservation Science) works on a wide range of projects understanding, predicting and influencing human behaviour, and designing, monitoring and evaluating conservation interventions in order to improve their effectiveness.
Eleanor is the founder and chair of the Saiga Conservation Alliance and has launched a number of initiatives which aim to change the real-world conversation around conservation, including the Conservation Optimism movement. She is the Chair of the UK Government’s Darwin Expert Committee and a Trustee of WWF-UK.
In her talk, Eleanor talks about the past, present and potential future of the Aral Sea region, its wildlife and people, and how ecological and social disaster might be transformed into a hopeful and prosperous future. She shows how the saiga antelope, a highly endangered and weird species of antelope, can act as a flagship and rallying point for this transformation.
