Hi, I’m Meshach Pierre
- MA student in Criminology, Law, and Society, University of Florida (2021-present)
- PGDip in International Wildlife Conservation Practice, University of Oxford/WildCRU alumnus (2018)
- BSc in Biology (General Option), University of Guyana alumnus (2010-2014)
- Advisors: Dr. Jessica S. Kahler and Dr. Matthew T. Hallett
- Interests: Conservation criminology, Human dimensions of wildlife conservation, Indigenous natural resources management, Ecology and conservation of birds and mammals, Scientific communication and outreach, Environmental sociology, Sustainable development
- Programming language: R (proficient), Python (basic), Stata (basic)
- Software: R, QGIS
Contact information:
- US Address: 408 NW 4th St, Gainesville, FL, USA, 32601
- Permanent Guyanese Address: 60 Atlantic Ville, Georgetown, Guyana, South America
- Email: [email protected] / [email protected]
- Phone: +5926414308 / +13523282116
I am from Georgetown, Guyana, and have worked in both Guyana and Suriname, conducting field research on birds, mammals, and most recently, human-wildlife conflict. I mainly work in Region 9, Guyana, also called the Rupununi Region. My interests have grown and evolved over time and my major focus now is human-wildlife interactions, especially human-wildlife coexistence and conflict. I hope my work can be used to inform both national policy, and local community approaches to living alongside sometimes dangerous wildlife.
For more details on my experience, interests, and skills, please see my CV.
My current research focuses on human-wild cat conflict in the Rupununi region of Southern Guyana. I am using a conservation criminology approach to this issue. I aim to understand risk perceptions, risk beliefs, and attitudes surrounding jaguars and livestock, tolerance for jaguar populations, and guardianship intention regarding wild cats and livestock. This research project falls under the larger Sustainable Wildlife Management Project, Guyana.
I am always open to collaborate and happy to talk about working in Guyana. I am fairly well connected (it helps that Guyana is small) so I would be happy to connect anyone with the wider conservation biology field in Guyana.
Here's a picture of the Rupununi savanna where I spend most of my research days:
