Podcast “Protecting sharks and coastal livelihoods”

Before taking a trip to Indonesia, we first explore Hollie’s career journey [07.13]. Hollie grew up in landlocked Birmingham, in the UK, and recalls being interested in “all wildlife”. But her love for sharks didn’t come until much later. Throughout her undergraduate degree and previous experiences, Hollie had worked on a variety of projects specialising in the illegal wildlife trade and something called an Impact Assessment, a tool which in a very basic sense attempts to figure out if conservation measures have been successful. For her Masters thesis, Hollie began work on a project that combined these interests: a project with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) looking at the impact of a new law to protect manta rays in Indonesia. This was her ‘gateway’ into the world of sharks and rays, but also her ticket to Indonesia. Following her masters, Hollie became technical advisor for the WCS in Indonesia and several years later completed her PhD studying the socio-economic drivers of shark fishing and barriers to pro-conservation behaviour.