Kelley Reardon (second left) with professor Binbin Li (center right) and fellow members of their iMEP research team
By Kelley Reardon
Class of 2019
Ocean explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau once said, ‘When one person, for whatever reason, has the chance to lead an extraordinary life, he has no right to keep it to himself.’ Cousteau’s grandson, Fabien Cousteau, shared his grandfather’s wisdom in an effort to inspire an audience of hundreds during the opening speech of the 29th International Congress of Conservation Biology. I had the opportunity to be part of that audience this year, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
As one presenter at the conference stated, conservationists are a ‘rare species’ ‘ conservation fieldwork is often physically demanding and done in remote areas of the world. Therefore, to have more than 500 conservationists in one building was a unique opportunity.
I met someone who had just come out of the jungle of Borneo, where he was studying vipers. There were scientists trying to save species on the brink of extinction like the Sumatran rhino. These were people who devoted their life’s work to wildlife, people who were committed to protecting animals that didn’t have a voice of their own.
I felt very privileged to have the opportunity to present my own graduate school research project from Duke Kunshan to the conservation community at the conference. It was the perfect place to get feedback from like-minded peers who could provide a new perspective.
The focus of my project was a comparison of human-wildlife conflict situations with giant pandas in China and Bengal tigers in India. Although the two species are different in many ways, they also share a lot of similarities, and the goal was to use the two places as case studies to learn something new.
The conference involved a lot of networking and meeting new people, but it was also a reunion between old friends and colleagues. My classmates and adviser from Duke Kunshan, Li Binbin, also had the chance to present their research. It was wonderful to see them after I had recently spent some time away from China living in the United States.
My classmates presented on topics such as the illegal wildlife trade, nature reserve protection and habitat connectivity in Southeast Asia. The general response was really positive.
After the conference, we explored the city of Kuala Lumpur together, eating from local food stalls and trying fresh fruits like mangosteen and lychee. Kuala Lumpur is similar to Duke Kunshan in that it is a hub of diversity. In one day, you can see Chinatown, visit a mosque, snack on Indian food and shop at high-end designer stores. It’s one of the most multicultural cities that I have ever visited.
Batu Caves outside Kuala Lumpur
It was really exciting because one of the reasons I love to travel so much is to experience other cultural traditions and food.
I took advantage of one free afternoon to visit the famous Batu Caves. There, a gigantic golden statue of Lord Murugan, a Tamil god, sits at the foot of a colorful staircase. The steps lead to limestone caves with Hindu temples nestled inside. When I visited, sunlight was streaming in from an opening at the top of the cave. It was absolutely beautiful. There were even monkeys climbing around on the rock walls, adding another dimension of entertainment for tourists.
The closing speech of the conference was an incredible story that intertwined science with culture. An indigenous community in Micronesia was suffering from declines in fish populations from pollution and climate change. The chief of the community hired marine biologist Nicole Crane to study the reef. Crane and John Rulmal Jr., a leader in the community, shared their story on stage together.
In order to solve the problem with fish management in the reef, Crane simply informed the local indigenous community of her scientific findings. From there, the local leaders took this information into consideration along with their traditional cultural knowledge of the waters and wildlife. The local leaders were also experts in local governance ‘ the waters are shared among multiple communities and management can be complex.
Crane understood that the community leaders had a more well-rounded perspective of their own home and would be able to make much more informed decisions about conservation management than she could as a foreigner there.
Crane and Rulmal showed a slide from their presentation that said, ‘As a community of conservation biologists, we need to ensure those voices are loud, the practices are embraced, and traditional knowledge is placed at the forefront of conservation planning and implementation.’ This is a unique perspective that I feel deserves more attention from the conservation community. I think others feel the same ‘ Rulmal and Crane received a standing ovation for their work.
In a world where culture and conservation are inevitably connected, I have a strong desire to continue learning about both fields of study.
I’ve recently been in Fiji, New Zealand and Australia working as an environmental science field instructor for Verto Education, which provides courses for college freshmen and gap-year students looking to study abroad. In addition to their environmental science course, students also took a cultural anthropology course for college credit.
I’m extremely excited about educating others on wildlife conservation, but I’m also excited to connect traditional knowledge with Western science. After attending the conference in Malaysia, I feel more confident than ever that a well-rounded perspective is the most effective, efficient and sustainable way to look at solving environmental problems.
Kelley Reardon is from the United States and was among iMEP’s graduating Class of 2019.
