Dr Lucy Tallents

Overseas Training Coordinator and Diploma Tutor

Lucy is currently updating her members page to reflect her current portfolio of work and research.

My academic career in conservation began with a degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Oxford, based at Merton College. I did my final honours research project with WildCRU, comparing the reaction of badgers to human disturbance in areas with and without a history of lethal control for TB. I gained a first class degree and was awarded the Gibb's prize for the second-highest mark in finals for my year.  Wanting to expand my skills and do further research relevant to ecology and conservation, I studied for an MRes in Ecology and Environmental Management at the University of York, which I passed with distinction.

Having volunteered for Fauna and Flora International's Indochina Programme in the summer before my Masters, I returned to Vietnam to do the second of my MRes projects on the behaviour of captive gibbons. I went on to work with FFI for nearly a year, surveying for western black-crested gibbons Nomascus concolor in northern Vietnam. This species had not been seen in Vietnam for 70 years, and surveys the previous year had confirmed the species' presence from interview surveys and hearing calls in a single commune, Che Tao, in Yen Bai province. I was employed to train field assistants and survey the remaining continguous forest to determine the population size and status of the gibbons. I also collaborated with a sociologist, James Hardcastle, to assess the anthropogenic threats and the potential for establishing a community-based conservation programme and formally gazetting a protected area. Our work underpins the creation of the Che Tao Species/Habitat Protection Area (a type of nature reserve).

Oxford once again became my base when I returned to WildCRU to work towards a DPhil with the Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Programme (EWCP). My research investigated the determinants of reproductive success in Ethiopian wolves Canis simensis, involving behavioural observations, prey-base monitoring, vegetation surveys and a variety of spatial analyses using ecological and remotely-sensed data. I spent three years in the field, based in the Bale Mountains, southern Ethiopia.

Prior to and during my DPhil, I completed GIS, remote-sensing and database design consultancies for FFI Indochina, WWF Ethiopia and FFI Mozambique, and in the latter half of my DPhil I also provided technical assistance to the EWCP. During my DPhil, I tutored students and post-docs in the principles and application of GIS and remote-sensing, and in using ESRI GIS software.

Working with another WildCRU postdoc, Susan Cheyne, I developed the detailed proposal required by the University to establish a new post-graduate diploma in International Wildlife Conservation Practice (IWCP). The course is run by the WildCRU in collaboration with Department for Continuing Education, and funded by a donation from the Kaplan family. I developed and implemented a 4-month pilot course in the summer of 2008, to test and improve teaching methods and materials.

I am now the lead tutor and coordinator for the PGDip in IWCP, doing the majority of both teaching and administration for the course. My students are mainly early career conservation practitioners from developing countries. I enjoy the challenges and rewards of training them in techniques for field data collection and analysis, including the principles of sound scientific research and how to apply them in conservation situations.

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