Neil.Dawson@uea.ac.uk

Twitter: @drndawson

Website: https://www.uea.ac.uk/international-development/people/profile/neil-dawson 

About

Neil specialises in researching poverty, wellbeing and environmental justice, from the often-overlooked perspective of rural people in developing countries - primarily those living alongside biodiversity hotspots. He uses interdisciplinary approaches to understand the political, social, environmental and economic processes which impact people, particularly poor and marginalised social and ethnic groups. He has a diverse background spanning quite different, though now handily complementary disciplines, having spent several years each as an ecologist (specialising for some time in seabirds), nature reserve warden and also previously as an economist and chartered accountant. His early research took him to several areas where natural resource management has strong implications for local livelihoods: looking at fisheries in Alaska, wetland management in Belarus and payments for ecosystem service projects in Rwanda. These experiences fuelled his interest in the depth of social understanding actually required to realise equitable and effective ecosystem governance. Neil completed his PhD in International Development at UEA in October 2013, exploring changes in the wellbeing of rural populations living alongside tropical rainforests in the mountains of western Rwanda. His current work, in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and South America, covers three interlinked themes: biodiversity conservation and protected areas; agriculture, and; climate change mitigation and adaptation. The ultimate goal is to utilise knowledge gained to influence practice and realise sustained development for the rural poor at the same time as preserving important biodiversity. He is a member of the Steering Committee for the IUCN Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy (CEESP), co-chairing the Theme on Human Wellbeing and Sustainable Livelihoods.

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Some policy briefs and media coverage that Neil has produced can be accessed below:

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The Guardian: To reduce hunger in Africa, work with poor farmers – not against them

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Policy Brief: Linking Conservation and Development in a Time of Rapid Change at Nam Et-Phou Louey National Protected Area, Lao PDR

Policy brief: REDD+ in Uganda: access rights and equity must come first