Doctoral Dissertation Research: Contesting Maasai Livestock-Herding and Saving Kenyan Wildlife in Creating Amboseli National Park

本项目将研究非洲保护区野生动物保护的利益相关者之间的历史关系。她将在肯尼亚的安博塞利国家公园进行研究。在安博塞利保护科学的科学文献的基础上，这项研究将通过考察科学家、野生动物管理者和主要由马赛人组成的公园周围居民的观点，为历史分析增加一个新的维度。这项研究将提供一个广泛的范围，从1940年到现在，以审查保护政策的变化以及马赛人如何接受和执行这些政策。本研究的目的是了解保护对马赛人生计的影响，以及保护科学如何受到当地知识系统的影响。本项目将通过口述历史、参与观察和档案文件分析来分析这种关系。这将是该地区第一个利用科学家和当地马赛居民的民族志来了解国家和国际保护政策对当地的影响的项目。该方法将允许分析保护对经常因贫困而被边缘化的人群的生活的更深层次的影响，他们的游牧生活方式经常被批评与保护相冲突。本研究对发展以社区为基础的保护项目、设计社会影响研究以及理解有关当地知识系统的科学权威具有重要意义。地方和国家当局将深入了解土地使用政策的长期影响，以及如何规划干旱管理，同时考虑到肯尼亚南部草原地区和其他生物多样性脆弱地区的保护需求和当地社区的可持续生计。

IntroductionThis project will examine the historical relationships between stakeholders involved in wildlife conservation in protected areas of Africa. She will conduct research in Amboseli National Park in Kenya. Building on the scientific literature regarding conservation science in Amboseli, this research will add a new dimension of historical analysis by examining the perspectives of scientists, wildlife managers, and the population living around the park, comprised largely of Maasai. This research will provide a wide scope, from 1940 to the present, for examining changes in conservation policies and how they were received and implemented by the Maasai population. Intellectual Merit The purpose of this research is to understand the impact of conservation on Maasai livelihoods and how conservation science was influenced by local knowledge systems. This project will analyze this relationship through oral histories, participant observation, and archival document analysis. This will be the first project in this region utilizing ethnographies of scientists as well as local Maasai residents to understand the local impact of national and international conservation policies. The methodology will allow for analysis of the deeper influence of conservation on the lives of groups of people who are often marginalized through poverty and whose pastoralist lifestyle is often critiqued for conflicting with conservation. Potential Broader Impacts This research has implications for developing community-based conservation programs, designing social impact research, and understanding scientific authority regarding local knowledge systems. Local and national authorities will gain insight into the long-term implications of land use policies and how to plan for drought management that takes into account both conservation needs and sustainable livelihoods of local communities, both in this savannah region of southern Kenya and other regions with fragile biodiversity.