Trishant Simlai

Postdoctoral Research Associate

tts25@cam.ac.uk

Cambridge Geography profile

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Trishant is a Postdoctoral Research Associate on the Smart Forests project in the Department of Sociology at the University of Cambridge. He is a conservation geographer with a decade-long experience and interest in the socio-politics and geographies of wildlife conservation. Trishant started his career as a conservation biologist studying large carnivores and human wildlife conflict. Working on the interface of conservation science and conservation practice/policy, he quickly realized the importance of social and political sciences in the field of environmental conservation.

Following his postgraduate studies in Conservation and Rural Development his interests shifted significantly from the natural sciences to the social sciences and humanities. His research interests now focus on the rising discourse of conservation militarisation, links between the illegal wildlife trade and armed conflicts, and conservation practice in violent environments.

His PhD research in the Department of Geography at the University of Cambridge investigated the implications of using conservation surveillance technologies for wildlife conservation in India. His research focused on how digital technologies are transforming the socio-politics of conservation environments. Using an intersectionality lens, Trishant investigated what these transformations mean for conservation labour and the future of conservation work in the Global South.


Publications

Sandbrook, Chris, Douglas Clark, Tuuli Toivonen, Trishant Simlai, Stephanie O’ Donnell, Jennifer Cobbe, and William Adams. “Principles for the socially responsible use of conservation monitoring technology and data.” Conservation Science and Practice 3, no. 5 (2021): e374.

Simlai, Trishant and Chris Sandbrook. “Digital surveillance technologies in conservation and their social implications.” In Conservation Technology. Edited by Serge Wich and Alex Piel. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2021.

Duffy, Rosaleen, Francis Massé, Emile Smidt, Esther Marijnen, Bram Büscher, Judith Verweijen, Maano Ramutsindela, Trishant Simlai, et al. “Why We Must Question the Militarisation of Conservation.” Biological Conservation. 232 (2019): 66–67.

Simlai, Trishant. “Conservation ‘Wars’: Global Rise of Green Militarization and Trends in India.” Economic and Political Weekly 50, no. 50 (2015).