Banting Postdoctoral Research Fellow
michelle.anagnostou@biology.ox.ac.uk

Michelle Anagnostou

Background

Growing up in Canada, I have always felt deeply connected to nature. From a young age, I found joy in camping under starry skies, canoeing across lakes, and hiking along trails that meander through dense forests. At the age of 17, I embarked on my first academic research assistantship at a remote wildlife research station, an experience that sparked my passion for scientific exploration. Since then, my research interests have evolved and become increasingly focused relating to my growing expertise, illegal and unsustainable wildlife exploitation. Through graduate and postgraduate research projects, I have collaborated with law enforcement and intelligence agencies, and conducted fieldwork on illegal wildlife trade in Uganda, South Africa, Hong Kong, and Canada. I also have conservation fieldwork experience in Costa Rica and Indonesia.

I have found that despite the myriad of consequences, there has been notably limited research dedicated to exploring illegal wildlife trade as a form of organized crime. This knowledge gap has led to inappropriately placed blame and the criminalization of historically marginalised rural communities who hunt wildlife, while more powerful intermediaries continue to profit and go unpunished. It also impedes the development of comprehensive strategies to dismantle the criminal syndicates involved, address the systemic socio-economic drivers, and mitigate its far-reaching impacts. I am excited about conducting interdisciplinary research that supports efforts to more appropriately prioritise illegal wildlife trade, and more effectively combat the innovative and adaptive strategies of wildlife traffickers. In addition to my postdoctoral fellowship research, I am a Research Consultant and Project Lead with WWF-Hong Kong on the development of an AI solution to screen bookings and shipping documentation for mis-declared or undeclared wildlife products in maritime supply chains.

Research Interests

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I am interested in conducting research that contributes to a deeper understanding of the complex and often overlooked aspects of illegal wildlife trade. Specifically, I am interested in projects that facilitate the implementation of more effective, equitable, collaborative, and disruptive wildlife law enforcement. Illegal wildlife trade represents a significant and growing form of organised crime that has been increasingly reported as intersecting with other types of serious crimes, a phenomenon labelled “crime convergence”. However, little empirical research has explored the extent and nature of these linkages, and the challenges faced by law enforcement. My interdisciplinary doctoral research aimed to address these knowledge gaps and deconstruct how crime convergences are occurring. My results showed that illegal wildlife trade converges with a variety of illegal activities, including illegal drug trade, such as cocaine, methamphetamines, cannabis, and heroin; sex trafficking; trade in human body parts; migrant smuggling; forced and bonded labour; illegal alcohol trade; illegal firearms trade; vehicle theft and trafficking; counterfeit and pirated goods trade; and illegal trade in mined resources; among others. In addition, organised crime can be characterised by the use of corruption, violence, and money laundering. My research has demonstrated that all three of these tools are used strategically by wildlife trafficking syndicates, making infiltrating, and dismantling illegal wildlife trade networks more difficult.

Transnational organised crime networks are increasingly interconnected, and some illegal wildlife markets continue to grow each year, threatening thousands of species. My research advocates for the adoption of more collaborative approaches to mitigate converging crimes. By disentangling criminal interlinkages and money laundering tactics, I hope my research will contribute to advancements towards a more evidence-informed understanding of illegal wildlife trade as an organised crime.

Current Research

The illegal extraction, trade, and sale of wildlife is a severely under-researched emerging international policy challenge for Canada with complex negative impacts. Illegal wildlife trade can diminish endangered species populations, disrupt fragile ecosystems, and inflict incredible suffering on live animals – all while lining the pockets of international criminal networks and corrupt government officials. Current approaches to mitigating illegal wildlife trade largely involve arresting criminal offenders in protected areas at the poaching level, who are often experiencing multidimensional poverty, or smugglers at the border, who similarly profit the least. Rarely do authorities investigate beyond these actors to understand the bigger network, the role of corruption, or how money is being moved across borders. However, financial crimes are an essential part of the illegal wildlife trade process, as offenders must try to conceal the origin of their profits. Analyzing financial transfers, or “follow the money” approaches, are long-established in more conventional types of law enforcement, yet rarely applied to wildlife crime investigations. Following the money trail allows law enforcement to determine the key players that are operating at the top-level internationally and making the most in proceeds from the exploitation of wildlife.

Our study aims to use a comprehensive and well-established theoretical framework from implementation science to understand the barriers and facilitators to implementing follow the money approaches into illegal wildlife trade networks in Canada. Partnering with Canadian law enforcement and intelligence agencies, we will assess the determinants of implementation success at individual, organisational, and system-levels using surveys with law enforcement and anti-money laundering investigators and by exploring police case files. Our findings will advance interdisciplinary implementation theory and assist practitioners in developing more effective investigations. Ultimately, this knowledge will help improve approaches to disrupt sophisticated international illegal wildlife trade syndicates, and to protect wildlife for the long-term.

Brief CV

Education

Sep 2019 – Sep 2024

Doctor of Philosophy in Geography and Environmental Management,

University of Waterloo (Canada)

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Doctoral Fellow

Thesis title: Disentangling and Demystifying Illegal Wildlife Trade and Crime Convergence

 

Sep 2017 – Nov 2018

Master of Science in Conservation and the International Wildlife Trade (Distinction),

University of Kent, Canterbury (United Kingdom)

Thesis title: Evaluating local community sources of intelligence for tackling wildlife crime in protected areas

 

Sep 2013 – Jun 2017

Bachelor of Science in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (Honours),

University of Toronto, Toronto (Canada)

Thesis title: Factors affecting the dynamics of intergroup encounters of golden-headed lion tamarins

 

Current Positions 

Oct 2024 (- Present) Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship

University of Oxford (UK)

 

Nov 2023 (- Present) Research Consultant and Project Lead

World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF) (Hong Kong)

 

Awards

2024                       Governor General’s Academic Gold Medal (Nominated, pending result)

2024                       Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship

2023                       SSHRC Robert Harding & Lois Claxton Humanities and Social Sciences Grant

2021                       SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship Award

2020                       Lorne Russwurm Teaching Assistant Award

2020                       Ontario Graduate Scholarship

2020                       GRADflix Research Communication Award

2019                       Exceptional Doctoral Student Scholarship

2019                       Provost Doctoral Entrance Award for Women

2018                       Project Grant provided by the Columbus Zoological Park Association

Publications

  • Omrow, D., Anagnostou, M, Cassey, P., Cooke, S., Jordan, S., Kirkwood, A., MacNeill, T., Mirrlees, T., Pedersen, I., Stoett, P., Tlusty, M. 2024. Compliance and Enforcement in a Brave New (Green) World: Best Practices and Technologies for Green Governance. FACETS, 9: 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1139/facets-2023-0105.
  • Anagnostou, M., Doberstein, B. 2023. Exotic pet trade in Canada: The influence of social media on public sentiment and behaviour. Journal for Nature Conservation. 77, 126522. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.uwaterloo.ca/10.1016/j.jnc.2023.126522.
  • Green, A.R., Anagnostou, M., Harris, N.C. and Allred, S.B. 2023. Cool cats and communities: Exploring the challenges and successes of community-based approaches to protecting felids from the illegal wildlife trade. Frontiers in Conservation Science, 4: 15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcosc.2023.1057438.
  • Anagnostou, M., Gunn, V., Nibbs, O., Muntaner, C., Doberstein, B. 2022. An international scoping review of rangers’ precarious employment conditions. Environment Systems and Decisions 42, 479–503. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10669-022-09845-3.
  • Anagnostou, M., Doberstein, B. 2021. Illegal wildlife trade and other organised crime: A scoping review. Ambio 51: 1615–1631. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-021-01675-y.
  • Anagnostou, M. Synthesizing knowledge on crime convergence and the illegal wildlife trade. Environmental Challenges 2: 100222. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envc.2021.100222.
  • Anagnostou, M., Moreto, W.D., Gardner, C.J. and Doberstein, B. 2021. Poverty, pandemics, and wildlife crime. Conservation & Society, 19(4): 294-306. https://doi.org/10.4103/cs.cs_193_20.
  • Mawani, F., Gunn, V., Ocampo, P., Anagnostou, M., Muntaner, C., Wanigaratne, S., Perri, M., Ziegler, C., An, A. 2021. COVID-19 Economic Response and Recovery: A rapid scoping review to inform the United Nations Research Roadmap for COVID-19 Recovery. International Journal of Health Services 51(2): 247-260. https://doi.org/10.1177/00207314211002785.
  • Anagnostou, M., Mwedde, G., Roe, D., Smith, R.J., Travers, H., and Baker, J. 2020. Ranger perceptions of the role of local communities in providing actionable information on wildlife crime. Conservation Science and Practice. https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.202.

 

Books

 

  • Assistant Editor: Segger, M.C.C., Harrington, , Wardell, D.A. (eds) 2023. CITES as a Tool for Sustainable Development. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108325776.

 

Recent Presentations

 

  • Disrupting Wildlife Trafficking in Maritime Supply Chains. UNODC Passenger and Cargo Control Programme (PCCP) 2024 Annual Meeting. November 14, Online.
  • Thematic discussion – Birds. 35th INTERPOL Wildlife Crime Working Group Meeting. November 7, 2024, Cape Town.
  • United for Wildlife Annual Summit. Maritime keywords and typologies: WWF Hong Kong. November 5, 2024, Cape Town.
  • How to conduct a literature review. CITES Global Youth Network, Virtual Training Session. November 1, Online.
  • 24hr Conference on Global Organized Crime, Global Initiative on Transnational Organised Crime. Virtual Panel Discussion on Crime Convergence. October 30, 2024, Online.
  • Organised illegal wildlife trade and money laundering risks. FINTRAC-FinCEN Anti-Money Laundering /Anti-Terrorist Financing Symposium. October 24-25, 2024, Ottawa.
  • From Algorithms to Action. Canadian Regulatory Intelligence Group (RIG). October 04, 2024, Online.
  • Keynote: Disentangling organized crime convergence: Insights from illegal wildlife trade. RCMP Counter Illicit Finance Alliance of British Columbia (CIFA-BC) Annual Symposium. May 30, 2024, Vancouver.
  • Development of the Proof-of-Concept Technology Solution to Screen Bookings and Shipping Documentation for Misdeclared or Undeclared Wildlife Products. WWF Innovation Festival. May 6-8 2024, Online.
  • Exploring the nexus between illegal wildlife trade and other organized crime, and briefing on illegal wildlife trade cargo screening project. WWF-Hong Kong Seminar for Key Stakeholders in Hong Kong. April 18, 2024, Hong Kong.
  • Crime Symbiosis. Invited presentation for the Government of Canada Environmental Crime Network. January 10, 2024, Online.
  • Crime Convergence and the Illegal Turtle Trade. Collaborative to Combat the Illegal Trade in Turtles General Membership Meeting. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. December 15, 2023, Online.
  • Shrinking Species, Soaring Profits: Wildlife Trafficking as a Growing Criminal Enterprise. ACAMS: The Assembly Canada, Toronto. November 16-17, 2023.
  • CITES as a Tool for Sustainable Development Virtual Book Launch and Expert Legal Roundtable. Event Coordinator and Moderator. October 19, 2023, Online.
  • 24hr Conference on Global Organized Crime, Global Initiative on Transnational Organised Crime. Virtual Panel Discussion on Cyber Ecoviolence. October 18, 2023.
  • International Wildlife Trade: Emerging Challenges, Complexities & Research Directions. Invited presentation for the Canadian Wildlife Enforcement Directorate. September 25, 2023, Online.
  • Public Sentiment Analysis of Exotic Pet Trade in Canada. Tech With A Green Conscience. Ontario Tech University, Oshawa. January 26-27, 2023.
  • Connecting the dots: Human exploitation and wildlife crime; Joint annual meeting for the Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution (CSEE) and the Ecological Society of America (ESA), Montreal. August 14-19, 2022.