Isla HODGSON

Isla Hodgson is a conservation social and political scientist specialising in qualitative research and the management of conservation conflicts. Her research interests include the role of politics and power in conflict dynamics, environmental governance, stakeholder relations and the application of research and management techniques from armed conflicts and peace studies to a conservation context. Isla has worked on several cases of conservation conflicts involving different species and stakeholder groups, including birds of prey and game-shooting in the UK, seals and salmon fishermen in Scotland, cheetah and rural pastoralists in Southern Africa and geese and agriculture in Europe. Outside of her research Isla has also worked as a negotiator and facilitator and advised international organisations and government bodies including UK and Scottish government, NatureScot, Natural England and WWF. In 2019, Isla was lead consultant on The State of Knowledge and Practice on Human-Wildlife Conflicts, a global study commissioned by the Luc Hoffman Institute to investigate the possibility and design of an international standard for the governance and management of human-wildlife conflict. 

In 2022, she was awarded a NERC Knowledge Exchange Fellowship to engage a variety of marine stakeholders in conflict research – including fishermen, renewable energies, tourism, and government bodies – to better understand and manage conflicts within Scotland’s Marine Protected Area (MPA) network. This project will also work towards the effective implementation of new High Priority Marine Areas (HPMAs), working towards the global ‘30x30’ target for MPA coverage. She is passionate about ocean conservation, particularly the conservation of sharks, and also works for the Save Our Seas Foundation as Science Communicator. Her role involves making shark science accessible for a diversity of stakeholders, including the public, practitioners and policy-makers.