Paying fishers to release endangered catches can aid conservation, but only if done right

hollie.booth@biology.ox.ac.uk

Hollie Booth

Background

I’ve always felt that people and nature are intrinsically linked, and that all lives – human and animal – deserve moral consideration. With a passion for nature and the outdoors, a desire for a more just and equitable world, and a thirst for knowledge and exploration, conservation science has always felt like the ideal career path for me.

I completed my DPhil in the Biology Department in 2021 on Interdisciplinary Approaches to Shark and Ray Conservation, with a focus on small-scale fisheries in Indonesia. Since then I have been working with local researchers, NGOs and decision-makers in Indonesia to put my findings into practice, by designing and testing incentive-based approaches for marine biodiversity and human wellbeing outcomes with support from the Oxford Policy Engagement Network (OPEN) and the UK Darwin Initiative. This includes running the world's first Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) of an incentive-based marine conservation program for Critically Endangered sharks and rays. In parallel, I have been working on mechanisms for improved accountability for nature-related impacts and dependencies in the private sector, through approaches to operationalise ambitious and evidence-based Nature Positive commitments which mitigate the negative environmental impacts of corporate value chains and channel funding towards measurable, additional and socially-just biodiversity outcomes. I am generally interested in conducting applied interdisciplinary research to make conservation more effective and socially just.

Aside from my research work at Oxford, I have also worked in the non-profit and private sector, with roles spanning community-based tourism and protected area management in East Africa; shark and ray fisheries and trade in SE Asia; and global environmental policy and corporate biodiversity strategies.

I grew up in Birmingham, and was the first person from my family to go to university after attending a poorly-performing state school. As such, I am passionate about promoting participation of women, minority groups, and people from low-income backgrounds in academia and conservation.

Research Interests

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The overarching question that my research seeks to answer is “how can we deliver positive outcomes for biodiversity and people?”

I am generally interested in links between conservation and human wellbeing; designing locally appropriate conservation programs using predictive methods and economic valuation; and evaluating the impacts of conservation programs on nature and people using causal inference, from theory-based to experimental research designs.

Current Research

My research currently focuses on two parallel streams, within the general theme of interdisciplinary research towards a nature- and people-positive future.

  1. Designing and experimentally evaluating incentive-based approaches for biodiversity and wellbeing outcomes in small-scale fisheries (funded by the UK Darwin Initiative).
  2. Developing methods and approaches so that large, powerful stakeholders with impacts & dependencies in the marine real (e.g., commercial fishing companies, tourism companies) can be held accountable for their negative impacts on nature, in ways which channel funding towards measurable, additional and socially-just biodiversity outcomes in biodiversity-rich coastal communities (as part of the Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery).

Brief CV

Education:

2019-2021

DPhil Zoology, University of Oxford (no corrections)

Thesis: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Shark and Ray Conservation

2016

Imperial College London, MSc Conservation Science | Grade: distinction

Thesis: Evaluating the impact of conservation policy: the case of manta ray catch and trade in Indonesia

2011

University of Cambridge, BA (Hons) Natural Sciences and Management Studies | Grade: first class

Thesis (Part II Management Studies): Towards a credit-scoring model for social investment

Thesis (Part II Zoology): Information acquisition and decision-making in locusts

 

Work experience:

2022-Present    Post-doctoral researcher (part time), University of Oxford

2022-2025    Strategic Director and Head of Nature Strategies, The Biodiversity Consultancy

2019- 2021       Conservation Hierarchy Technical Coordinator, Synchronicity Earth, London

2016- 2022        Sharks and Rays Advisor, the Wildlife Conservation Society, SE Asia Archipelago

2015                            Assistant Programme Officer, Species, UNEP-WCMC, Cambridge

2013–15                   Assistant to the Africa Director, Africa Regional Office, Frankfurt Zoological Society, Tanzania

2013                           Sustainable Tourism Consultant, Counterpart International, Ethiopia

2011-13                    Assistant Program Officer, Ecosystem Services and Assessment, UNEP-WCMC, Cambridge

2010-11                    Intern, Science Programme, UNEP-WCMC, Cambridge

 

Awards

2024 | 2025 Indianapolis Prize Emerging Conservationist Award Top Ten Finalist

2023 | ZSL Marsh Award for Marine and Freshwater Conservation

2022 | European Early Career Research Award, Society for Conservation Biology; nominated by Oxford Biology Department for the John C Marsden Medal for the best doctoral thesis in biology

2020 | Graduate Student Research Award, Society for Conservation Biology

2019 | Best Graduate Seminar, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford 

2018 | Oxford-NaturalMotion Graduate Scholarship, University of Oxford

2016 | Joseph Hooker Prize, Imperial College London

2011 | King’s College Academic Attainment Award, University of Cambridge; Worts Travelling Scholars Award and Donald Robertson Travelling Scholarship, University of Cambridge

Papers

Please see a complete list here: https://www.biology.ox.ac.uk/people/hollie-booth#tab-2908621

Presentations

2024 | SCB Conservation Social Science Conference – Oral Presentation: “Designing & testing conservation incentives: impacts and hidden actions in a randomized trial of a marine pay-to-release program”

2024 | SCB International Marine Conservation Congress – Oral Presentation: “Incentive-based Approaches for Biodiversity & Wellbeing Outcomes in Small-Scale Fisheries”

2024 | Nature-Based Solutions Conference – Poster Presentation: “Designing & testing incentive-based approaches for biodiversity & well-being outcomes in small-scale fisheries”

2023 | WorldFish workshop on Asia-Africa BlueTech Superhighway – Invited Speaker: “Designing and experimentally testing marine conservation incentives: a case study on sharks & rays in Indonesia”

2023 | International Congress for Conservation Biology – Oral Presentations: “Avoiding ocean extinctions through threat reduction” and “Operationalizing Transformative Change for business in the context of nature positive”

2021 | International Congress for Conservation Biology – Symposium organizer: “Aligning incentives for blue economy and biodiversity” and Oral Presentation: “Bycatch levies for blue growth and biodiversity outcomes: a global model for payments for ecosystem services and sustainable financing in the ocean”

2021 | International Gillnet Bycatch Workshop – Invited speaker: “People-centred approaches for reconciling trade‐offs between fisheries & conservation”

2021 | IUCN Shark Specialist Group Workshop – Workshop organizer and speaker: “Crash Course in Human Dimensions of Shark Conservation”

2020 | International Marine Conservation Congress – Symposium organizer:  Sharks, turtles and small-scale fisheries: saving marine megafauna in an ocean-dependent world” and Oral Presentation: “The mitigation hierarchy: a risk-based framework for supporting fisheries management and conservation in data poor situations”

2019 | International Congress for Conservation Biology – Oral Presentations: “No net loss for sharks and people? Towards a risk-based framework for feasible, equitable shark fisheries management” and “The role of culture in shaping shark conservation in the coral triangle: challenges, opportunities and ways forward”

2019 | Conservation Optimism Summit – Symposium organizer: “Innovative approaches for reducing by-catch in small-scale fisheries”

2018 | International Marine Conservation Congress. Symposium organizer: “Putting marine science in to practice for conservation and management of sharks and rays in Southeast Asia”

2018 | International Marine Conservation Congress. Invited speaker: “Tools & incentives to combat IUU trade of marine fauna: Combining law enforcement & livelihoods to deliver measurable conservation outcomes in the world’s largest targeted manta ray fishery”

2018 | Our Oceans Conference. Speaker: “Marine Protected Areas for Sharks”

2018 | Our Oceans Conference. Speaker: “Shark Fisheries Management in Indonesia”

2017 | The Oxford Martin School on Illegal Wildlife Trade Annual Symposium – Invited keynote speaker: “Not by legality alone: addressing shark overexploitation in Indonesia”

2012 | IUCN World Conservation Congress. Workshop organizer: “Methods and approaches for assessing ecosystem services”