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School of Geography and the Environment

University of Oxford
School of Geography and the Environment

 School of Geography and the Environment

Dr Paul Jepson

Academic Profile

Paul Jepson is course Director of the MSc in Nature, Society and in Environmental Policy. Prior to his appointment in January 2007, he held Senior Research Fellowships with the Environmental Change Institute and the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at the Said Business School. Paul transferred into academia from a successful career in conservation management and policy. He has been a consultant for a wide range of inter-governmental and non-governmental organisations and was Indonesia Programme Coordinator for BirdLife International (1991-1997). He started his career in urban conservation working as a local government countryside officer developing new urban conservation initiatives in Manchester and Shrewsbury (UK). In his research and teaching he seeks to integrate insights from theory and practice and from the social and natural sciences.

Current Research

Paul previously specialized in the design and establishment of protected areas and in wildlife trade issues. His research now embraces a wider interest in conservation as a social process, with a particular focus on questions of governance. One strand of study is an investigation of the agency of 'bio-cultural' terms, devices and frames (those that blend both biological and cultural concepts) in producing the institutional practices of conservation, how they are mediated in different settings and how this mediation affects the performance of conservation interventions. A second strand is more action focused and is concerned with exploring the role of networks of prominent citizens in creating the social context from which self-government and individual behavioural change arises. These two research stands are informed by long-term research interests in the social history of conservation and public knowledge and attitudes towards nature and conservation policy instruments.

Selected Research Projects (since 2001)
  • A market-led response to domestic bird trade in Indonesia
    In collaboration with Dr Richard Ladle; Fahrul Amama, Burung Indonesia; Made Prana, Indonesian Bird Association; Sujatnika, Aksenta, and Farquhar Stirling, Nielsen Indonesia; Financial support from Darwin Initiative; (2005-2008)
  • Improving the Performance of Social Organizations: the Strategic Management of Legitimating Assets
    In collaboration with Dr Alex Nicholls and Alec Jacobs, Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship, Said Business School.; Financial support from University RDC ; (2006-2007)
  • Independent conservation audit of Asian elephant conservation
    In collaboration with Dr Susan Canney, Dept. of Zoology, Oxford.; Financial support from elephant family; (2002-2003)

Teaching

Dr Jepson convenes and lectures on the 'Environmental Governance' and 'Environmental Policy and Context' modules of the MSc Nature, Society and Environmental Policy and the 'Conservation Governance' and 'Strategic Conservation Planning' modules for the MSc in Biodiversity, Conservation and Management. In addition he convenes a regular 'policy dialogues seminar series' in the School.

Current graduate students include:
  • Maan Barua
    The political ecology of Human-Elephant conflict in India
  • Kathleen Buckingham
    Assessing the sustainability of bamboo management practices in China and the relevance of modular, community and group approaches as capacity building tools towards sustainable bamboo forest management
  • Nina Kruglikova
    Environmental NGOs and Eco-Media technologies: An ethnographic study.
  • Gillian Petrokofsky (Plant Sciences, Oxford)
    Strengthening the evidence base for English forestry policy formulation.
D.Phil. students successfully completing since 2001:
  • No OUCE graduates currently listed

Selected Publications

Books
  • Jepson, P. and Ladle, R.J. (in press, 2009) Conservation: A beginners guide. One World Publications, Oxford.
Articles
Articles in Edited Collections
  • Jepson, P. (in press, 2009) Towards an Indonesian bird conservation ethos: reflections from a study of bird-keeping in the cites of Java and Bali. In, Tidemann, S. and Gosler, A. (eds.) EthnoOrnithology: Birds and Indigenous People, Culture and Society, Earthscan.
  • Barua, B. and Jepson, P. (in press, 2009) The Bull of the Bog: Bittern Conservation Practice in a Western Bio-cultural Setting. In, Tidemann, S. and Gosler, A. (eds.) EthnoOrnithology: Birds and Indigenous People, Culture and Society, Earthscan.
  • Jepson, P. (2002) The need for a better understanding of context when applying CITES regulations: the case of the Tanimbar corella. In, S. Oldfield (ed.) The Trade in Wildlife: Regulation for Conservation. Earthscan, London.
Selected Reports and Popular Articles
  • Jepson, P. (2008) Orange-headed thrush and the avian X-factor. Birding Asia, 9: 58-60.
  • Jepson, P. (2005) Natural History Re-mastered. British Wildlife, 17(1): 27-31.
  • Jepson, P. and S. Canney (2003) The state of Asian Elephant Conservation in 2003. Elephant Family, London.
  • Jepson, P. and Grimmet, R. (2002) A temple for Gurney's Pitta. Bulletin of the Oriental Bird Club, 36.
  • Jepson, P. and Schmitt, S. (2001) Naturdenkmal: a site protection concept worth revisiting? British Wildlife, 12(5): 312-315.