As a scientist, policy advisor and grantmaker, I work with multi-disciplinary teams to advance conservation outcomes for wildlife and people. Below are some of the initiatives I’ve led and contributed to.

"Saving protected areas, saving wildlife, is an investment in people."
- Jen Miller, BBC World Service

Trophy at a songbird race in Guyana. Credit: Jen Miller.

Songbird Trade

• As program officer for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Species Conservation Catalyst Fund on Songbird Trade, I lead a $5 million financial assistance initiative to reduce trafficking of songbirds for singing competitions. The program focuses on 15 species – primarily seed-finches and seedeaters – native to the Guiana Shield and Caribbean and traded internationally. Learn more about the U.S.' role in this culturally significant trade. Outcomes include:
  
• $3.7 million of federal funding invested in 7 projects working from 2024-2029 across the trade chain
• Research on the biological and human dimensions of the songbird trade to inform improvements in sustainable sourcing, law and policy, law enforcement and regional partner coordination
• Enhanced global awareness of songbird trafficking in the Americas and improved international exchange, such as at the 2023 CITES songbird workshop

Javelinas at the US-Mexico border wall. Credit: Matt Clark.

US-Mexico Border Wall

As senior scientist at Defenders of Wildlife, I led a science advocacy movement to heighten international awareness and response to efforts in 2018 to politicize and expand the U.S.-Mexico border wall without legal consideration of the impacts on biodiversity. Outcomes include:

• Over 3,000 scientist endorsements from 43 countries
• Coverage in BioScience and media including The Washington Post, The Hill and Scientific American that heightened government attention to environmental issues
• Science-based advocacy against border wall construction in sensitive habitats and wildlife corridors

Jaguar in the Pantanal. Credit: Gerry Zambonini (Zambog).

Jaguar Reintroduction

I advised and coordinated the science-policy dimensions in a partnership between Defenders of Wildlife and the Wildlife Conservation Society to discover the socio-ecological feasibility of reintroducing jaguars into the southwestern U.S. Although realizing this vision will require long-term efforts, our short-term outcomes include:

• Evidence for a viable population of up to 150 jaguars in New Mexico and Arizona
• Reenergized partnerships between conservation organizations, Tribes and U.S. government agencies
• Increasing media attention on jaguar recovery in the U.S.

Male lion in South Africa. Credit: Jen Miller.

Sustainable Lion Trophy Hunting

As a postdoc at Panthera, I helped develop research-informed tools to help Zimbabwe and Mozambique wildlife authorities and professional hunters successfully implement trophy age restrictions as a management tool for ensuring hunts do not cause lion declines. Outcomes include:

• Research and accompanying self-guided training and test for hunters to improve accuracy in aging lions
• Evdence on the effectiveness of age-based regulations to decrease unsustainable hunts by 75% in Mozambique

Tiger in Kanha Tiger Reserve. Credit: Jen Miller.

Tiger and Leopard-Human Conflict

As a PhD student at Yale and the Wildlife Institute of India, I researched the real and perceived patterns of tiger and leopard attacks on livestock and developed risk maps to guide livestock management decisions. Outcomes include:

• Understanding tiger and leopard hunting ecology on livestock
• Evidence of local herders’ accuracy in predicting lower-risk grazing sites

• Attention and methods on spatial risk mapping as a grazing management tool

Banyan tree in Kanha Tiger Reserve in central India. Credit: Jen Miller.