Dr Dawn Burnham
Research Staff
I joined WildCRU in 2006 having completed my PhD in 2004 from Manchester Metropolitan University on the behavioural ecology of bachelor male patas monkeys in Kenya. I quantitatively assessed the habitat quality of bachelor male ranges and explored other factors affecting their ranging patterns. Previously I worked in Zambia on blue monkeys, contributing to a wildlife management plan for Kasanka National Park, and my Masters thesis was on the social organisation of long-tailed macaques on the island of Sumba, Indonesia. Throughout, my interests focused on the interplay between social organisation and ecological experience in primate species that form sub groups.
Since the beginning of 2022 I am research coordinator on several large programmatic research grants, including ‘Felid Landscapes’ which spans South America, Africa and Asia with a species focus on lion, jaguar and clouded leopard as emblems for those regions. Working with other WildCRU post-docs and collaborators, a main research theme of Felid Landscapes culminates in conservation toolkits, to optimize the trade-off between conservation and development.
Previously, until the end of 2021, I served as WildCRU Unit Manager during which time I was responsible for supporting the Director in all aspects of the running and operations of WildCRU and the Recanati-Kaplan Centre at Tubney House. I was involved in a variety of diverse projects both academic and practical, from producing and publishing in-house outreach materials to renovation projects on the Tubney Estate. My work on the potential Tubney Biomass Project was awarded University funding by the judges of Oxford’s Carbon Innovation Programme in January 2017. That original scoping project has been greatly developed into the current decarbonisation plan, with the first stage being the installation of air source heat pumps in the Panthera buildings during 2022. We hope to save roughly 60 tonnes of carbon per annum across the Tubney Estate.
My previous project, the Panthera Buildings, were shortlisted for the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Awards 2010 for Building Conservation. The converted barns provide residential accommodation for our WildCRU Panthers (students on the Recanati-Kaplan Centre Post Graduate Diploma in International Wildlife Conservation Practice). The grade II listed, stone built barns have been carefully repaired and converted, taking a minimally engineered, sustainable approach, recycling existing materials as far as possible, using natural products for construction and insulation, and complementary renewable energy (solar), to achieve a minimum energy footprint.
In 2019 I was a member of the scientific and organising committee of the Conservation Geopolitics Forum at Worcester College. This was a scholarly meeting to develop conversations across disciplines to address the role of geopolitics in wildlife conservation. For further details please visit the forum website.
In 2016 I co-organised the Cecil Summit, a meeting inspired by the global interest in lion conservation following the killing of one lion in 2015 from WildCRU’s long term study in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe. The goal of the Summit was to take a fresh look at high level strategic thinking for lion conservation. This was the first of a series of interdisciplinary meetings, followed recently, in October 2018, by national and regional meetings in Zimbabwe and Botswana, bringing conservation science to regional and national government and non-government stakeholders launching evidence to plan policy and build legacy.
In 2009 I co-organised the Primate Felid Interactions Workshop with Susan Cheyne. This led to a quadruple special issue of Folia Primatologica published in 2012. My desk-based research published in Folia explored the theme of searching for efficiencies in conservation, continued in my work on umbrella species and charisma, linked to conservation marketing.
Selected Publications
Sullivan, M. S., Burnham, D., Stevens-Wood, B. and B. C. Sheldon (1995) Sequential Assessment and Decision-Making in Humans. Behaviour 132(7):571-589
Macdonald, D. W. and Burnham, D., (2007), The State of Britain’s Mammals 2007
Macdonald, D. W. and Burnham, D., (2008), The State of Britain’s Mammals 2008
Macdonald, D. W. and Burnham, D., (2010), The State of Britain’s Mammals: a focus on invasive species
Macdonald, D. W. and Burnham, D., (2011), Focus on Felids
Macdonald, D. W. and Burnham, D., (2011), The State of Britain’s Mammals 2011
Burnham, D., Bearder, S. K., Cheyne, S. M., Dunbar, R. I. M. and Macdonald, D. W., (2012), Predation by Mammalian Carnivores on Nocturnal Primates: Is the Lack of Evidence Support for the Effectiveness of Nocturnality as an Antipredator Strategy?, Folia Primatologica. 83(3-6): 236-251
Burnham, D., Hinks, A. E. and Macdonald, D. W., (2012), Life and Dinner under the Shared Umbrella: Patterns in Felid and Primate Communities, Folia Primatologica. 83(3-6): 148-170
Burnham, D. and P. Riordan (2012) Avoidance of Mammalian Predators by Patas Monkeys (Erythrocebus patas) in a Risk Landscape. Folia Primatologica 83. Folia Primatol 2012; 83:288-298. (https://doi.org/10.1159/000343176)
Macdonald, D. W., Burnham, D., Hinks, A. E. and Wrangham, R., (2012), A Problem Shared Is a Problem Reduced: Seeking Efficiency in the Conservation of Felids and Primates, Folia Primatologica. 83(3-6): 171-215
Burnham, D. and Riordan, P., (2013), Avoidance of Mammalian Predators by Patas Monkeys (Erythrocebus patas) in a Risk Landscape, Folia Primatologica. 83(3-6): 288-298
Dickman, A. J., Hinks, A. E., Macdonald, E. A., Burnham, D. and Macdonald, D. W., (2015), Priorities for Global Felid Conservation, Conservation Biology, 29(3): 854-864
Macdonald, E. A., Burnham, D., Hinks, A., Dickman, A. J., Malhi, Y., Macdonald, D. W. (2015) Conservation inequality and the charismatic cat: Felis felicis. Global Ecology and Conservation. Global Ecology & Conservation, 3, 851-866. doi:10.1016/j.gecco.2015.04.006
Macdonald, D. W., Jacobsen, K. S., Burnham, D., Johnson, P. J., Loveridge, A. J. (2016). Cecil: a moment or a movement? Analysis of media coverage of the death of a lion, Panthera leo. Animals, 6(5). doi:10.3390/ani6050026
Macdonald, D. W., Johnson, P. J., Loveridge, A. J., Burnham, D. and Dickman, A. J., (2016), Conservation or the Moral High Ground: Siding with Bentham or Kant, Conservation Letters. 9(4):307-308 doi:10.1111/conl.12254
Good, C., Burnham, D. and Macdonald, D. W., (2017), A Cultural Conscience for Conservation, Animals, 7(7):52, doi:10.3390/ani7070052
Lindsey, P. A., Chapron, G., Petracca, L. S., Burnham, D., Hayward, M. W., Henschel, P., Hinks, A. E., Garnett, S. T., Macdonald, D. W., Macdonald, E. A., Ripple, W. J., Zander, K. and Dickman, A., (2017), Relative efforts of countries to conserve world’s megafauna, Global Ecology and Conservation, 10: 243-252
Macdonald, E. A., Hinks, A. E., Weiss, D.J., Dickman, A. J., Burnham, D., Sandom, C. J., Malhi, Y., Macdonald, D. W. (2017) Identifying ambassador species for conservation marketing Global Ecology and Conservation 12: 204-214, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2017.11.006
Naing, H., Ross, J., Burnham, D., Htun, S. and Macdonald, D. W., (2017), Population density estimates and conservation concern for clouded leopards Neofelis nebulosa, marbled cats Pardofelis marmorata and tigers Panthera tigris in Htamanthi Wildlife Sanctuary, Sagaing, Myanmar, Oryx, 10.1017/S00306053170012601-9
Sandom, C. J., Faurby, S., Svenning, J. C., Burnham, D., Dickman, A., Hinks, A. E., Macdonald, E. A., Ripple, W. J., Williams, J. and Macdonald, D. W., (2017), Learning from the past to prepare for the future: felids face continued threat from declining prey, Ecography, 10.1111/ecog.0330341
Sandom, C. J., Williams, J., Burnham, D., Dickman, A. J., Hinks, A. E., Macdonald, E. A. and Macdonald, D. W., (2017), Deconstructed cat communities: Quantifying the threat to felids from prey defaunation, Diversity and Distributions, 2017(23):667-679. doi:10.1111/ddi.12558
Good, C., Burnham, D., Macdonald, D.W. (2017) A cultural conscience for conservation. Animals 7(7) 52
Trouwborst, A., Lewis, M., Burnham, D., Dickman, A., Hinks, A. E., Hodgetts, T., Macdonald, E. A., Macdonald, D . W. (2017) International law and lions (Panthera leo): understanding and improving the contribution of wildlife treaties to the conservation and sustainable use of an iconic carnivore. Nature Conservation 21: 83-128, 10.3897/natureconservation.21.1369021
Lindsey, P. A., Chapron, G., Petracca, L. S., Burnham, D., Hayward, M. W., Henschel, P., Dickman, A. (2017) Relative efforts of countries to conserve world’s megafauna. Global Ecology and Conservation, 10, 243-252
Buhrmester, M. D., Burnham, D., Johnson, D. D. P., Curry, O. S., Macdonald, D. W. Whitehouse, H., (2018), How Moments Become Movements: Shared Outrage, Group Cohesion, and the Lion That Went Viral, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 6(54) Front. Ecol. Evol.doi:10.3389/fevo.2018.00054
Dickman, A. J., Johnson, P. J., T Sas-Rolfes, M., Di Minin, E., Loveridge, A. J., Good, C., Sibanda, L., Feber, R. E., Harrington, L. A., Mbizah, M., Cotterill, A., Burnham, D., Macdonald, D. W., (2018), Is there an elephant in the room? A response to Batavia et al, Conservation Letters, 10.1111/conl.12603e12603
Hodgetts, T., Lewis, M., Bauer, H., Burnham, D., Dickman, A., Macdonald, E. A., Macdonald, D. W. and Trouwborst, A. (2018), Improving the role of global conservation treaties in addressing contemporary threats to lions, Biodiversity and Conservation, 27(10): 2747-2765
Vucetich, J. A., Burnham, D., Macdonald, E. A., Bruskotter, J. T., Marchini, S., Zimmermann, A., Macdonald, D. W. (2018) Just conservation: what is it and should we pursue it? Biological Conservation. Volume 221, May 2018, Pages 23-33, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2018.02.022
Vucetich, J. A., Burnham, D., Macdonald, E. A., Bruskotter, J. T., Marchini, S., Zimmermann, A., Macdonald, D. W., (2018), Authority, cultural relativism and the principles of just conservation: Rejoinder to Pooley and Redpath (2018), Biological Conservation, 223: 184-185
