Alexandra Zimmermann

Alexandra Zimmermann is a conservation scientist specialising in conflict resolution in wildlife conservation based in Oxford, England, United Kingdom.^[1][2] She is known for founding the IUCN Human-Wildlife Conflict Task Force^[1][3][4] and is also a researcher at the University of Oxford Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU).^[2] She is also a Senior Advisor for the World Bank's Global Wildlife Program.^[2][3] She has published over 50 research papers.^[5]

Biography[edit]

Early life and education[edit]

Raised internationally in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Europe and North America, Zimmermann earned her Bachelor's degree in Zoology from the University of Leeds in 1997. She also earned a MSc in Conservation Biology from the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology in 2000. She went on to earn a DPhil (PhD) in conservation social sciences from Oxford University in 2014, supervised by David Macdonald.^[6]

Zimmermann has also studied at Harvard Business School and Harvard Law School, as well as multilateral negotiation at the United Nations Institute for Training and Research.^[2][3]

Career[edit]

For 18 years, Zimmermann worked at Chester Zoo, where she directed research and field conservation projects at the zoo. Eventually, she became the Head of Conservation Science at Chester Zoo.^[2][3][7][8] At Chester Zoo, Zimmermann led their human-wildlife conflict mitigation projects, for which she was awarded grants from the UK Government's Darwin Initiative five times beginning in 2007.^[9][10] These included projects in Bolivia, Nepal, India, and Indonesia.^[7][11][8]

Zimmermann chairs the IUCN SSC Human-Wildlife Conflict Task Force, which she had founded in 2016.^[3][12][13] As part of the task force, she oversees the development of the IUCN SSC Guidelines on Human-Wildlife Conflict and the International Conference on Human-Wildlife Conflict & Coexistence.^[12] Zimmermann also became a member of the IUCN Commission on Environmental, Economic, and Social Policy, along with several Species Survival Commission Specialist Groups.^[2][3]

Later, Zimmermann became a Senior Research Fellow at Oxford University's WildCRU.^[2][14][15] While holding positions at both organizations, Zimmermann helped facilitate the partnership between Oxford University and Chester Zoo in 2018 for a portfolio of conservation projects, including one on Andean bears, which was funded through the Darwin Initiative and is still ongoing.^[11][16]

Zimmermann is a Senior Advisor for the World Bank's Global Wildlife Program.^[2][3] She is also Specialty Chief Editor of Frontiers in Conservation Science, an academic journal.^[17] She has been interviewed several times by BBC News as a specialist on conservation and human-wildlife conflicts.^{[4][18][19][20]}

In 2018, Zimmermann was also interviewed for an Al-Jazeera Earthrise documentary about human-wildlife conflict in Australia and Bangladesh.^[21]

Selected publications[edit]

Zimmermann has written over 50 scholarly articles on conservation science.^[5]

• Chartier, Laura; Zimmermann, Alexandra; Ladle, Richard J. (2011). "Habitat loss and human–elephant conflict in Assam, India: does a critical threshold exist?". Oryx. 45 (4): 528–533. doi:10.1017/S0030605311000044. ISSN 0030-6053. S2CID 86804369.
• Marchini, Silvio; Ferraz, Katia M. P. M. B.; Zimmermann, Alexandra; Guimarães-Luiz, Thaís; Morato, Ronaldo; Correa, Pedro L. P.; Macdonald, David W. (2019). "Planning for Coexistence in a Complex Human-Dominated World". Human–Wildlife Interactions. pp. 414–438. doi:10.1017/9781108235730.022. ISBN 9781108235730. S2CID 189652483.
• Davies, Tammy E.; Wilson, Scott; Hazarika, Nandita; Chakrabarty, Joydeep; Das, Dhruba; Hodgson, Dave J.; Zimmermann, Alexandra (2011). "Effectiveness of intervention methods against crop-raiding elephants". Conservation Letters. 4 (5): 346–354. Bibcode:2011ConL....4..346D. doi:10.1111/j.1755-263X.2011.00182.x. ISSN 1755-263X.
• Inskip, Chloe; Zimmermann, Alexandra (2009). "Human-felid conflict: a review of patterns and priorities worldwide". Oryx. 43 (1): 18. doi:10.1017/S003060530899030X. ISSN 0030-6053. S2CID 73686302.
• Marchini, S., Ferraz, KPMB., Zimmermann, A., Guimarães-Luiz, T., Morato, R., Correa, PLP. & Macdonald. D.W. (2019). Planning for coexistence in a complex human-dominated world. In: Frank, B., Glikman, JA & Marchini, S. Human-Wildlife Interactions: Turning Conflicts Into Coexistence? Cambridge University Press. pp. 414–438.
• Pooley, S.; Barua, M.; Beinart, W.; Dickman, A.; Holmes, G.; Lorimer, J.; Loveridge, A.J.; Macdonald, D.W.; Marvin, G.; Redpath, S.; Sillero-Zubiri, C.; Zimmermann, A.; Milner-Gulland, E.J. (2017). "An interdisciplinary review of current and future approaches to improving human-predator relations". Conservation Biology. 31 (3): 513–523. Bibcode:2017ConBi..31..513P. doi:10.1111/cobi.12859. hdl:2164/8763. ISSN 0888-8892. PMID 27783450. S2CID 3809395.
• Clegg, Simon Russell; Tollington, Simon; Kareemun, Zainal; Augustin, Arlaine; Lallchand, Kunal; Tatayah, Vikash; Zimmermann, Alexandra (2019). "Quantifying the damage caused by fruit bats to backyard lychee trees in Mauritius and evaluating the benefits of protective netting". PLOS ONE. 14 (8): e0220955. Bibcode:2019PLoSO..1420955T. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0220955. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 6695134. PMID 31415626.
• Zimmermann, Alexandra; McQuinn, Brian; Macdonald, David W. (2020). "Levels of conflict over wildlife: Understanding and addressing the right problem". Conservation Science and Practice. 2 (10). Bibcode:2020ConSP...2E.259Z. doi:10.1111/csp2.259. ISSN 2578-4854. S2CID 221375856.
• Zimmermann, A.; Walpole, M.J.; Leader-Williams, N. (2005). "Cattle ranchers' attitudes to conflicts with jaguar Panthera onca in the Pantanal of Brazil". Oryx. 39 (4): 406. doi:10.1017/S0030605305000992. ISSN 0030-6053. S2CID 85822613.
• Zimmermann, A., Hatchwell, M., Dickie, L. & West, C. (2007) Zoos in the 21st Century: Catalysts for Conservation? Cambridge University Press, Cambridge UK.
• Zimmermann, A. (2020) "Why we need to invest in conflict resolution for better biodiversity outcomes". World Bank Blogs. 17 November 2020.
• Zimmermann, A, Macdonald, E, & Kingston, T (2020) Why Mauritius is culling an endangered fruit bat that exists nowhere else. The Conversation. 26 November 2020.

References[edit]