PhD candidate awarded prestigious Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship
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Michelle Anagnostou, a PhD candidate in Geography and Environmental Management, has been awarded a prestigious Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship for 2024-2026. Michelle will join the Oxford Martin Programme on Illegal Wildlife Trade at the University of Oxford, the world's leading centre for research on illegal wildlife trade. Under the mentorship of Dr. Amy Hinsley, Michelle will lead research to understand the key factors in successfully analyzing financial transfers in illegal wildlife trade networks (aka “following the money”), an approach which allows investigators to better analyze the broader trafficking network and identify key players that are profiting from the exploitation of wildlife.
The Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships program provides funding to the very best postdoctoral applicants, both nationally and internationally, who will positively contribute to the country's economic, social, and research-based growth. This program is designed to “attract and retain top-tier postdoctoral talent, both nationally and internationally, develop their leadership potential, and position them for success as research leaders of tomorrow.” Successful Banting post-doctoral applicants receive $140,000 over two years and can carry out their research at Canadian and foreign universities, affiliated research hospitals, colleges and not-for-profit organizations with a strong research mandate and capacity.
Michelle distinguished herself by placing 5th out of 155 social sciences and humanities (SSHRC)-focused applicants nationwide. In total, 23 applicants were awarded.
"I'm incredibly excited to pursue this innovative research that aims to advance interdisciplinary theory and assist practitioners,” she says. “Understanding how to follow the money of an international illegal wildlife trade network will help improve approaches to disrupt sophisticated illegal wildlife trade syndicates, and to protect wildlife for the long-term.”
The Oxford Martin Programme on Illegal Wildlife Trade will provide an ideal base for Michelle’s work. Its primary focus is to address the global crisis of illegal wildlife trade, which poses significant threats to biodiversity, ecosystem stability, human livelihoods, and societal stability. The Programme combines expertise from ecology, economics, criminology and the social sciences to develop effective strategies to combat illegal wildlife trade. Research efforts such as Michelle’s are directed towards understanding the drivers and impacts of wildlife crime, and then using that understanding to evaluate the effectiveness of current interventions and to explore new solutions. Michelle said she is eager to “join the dynamic, collaborative, and vibrant intellectual community at the University of Oxford.”
Michelle will be defending her dissertation in September 2024, and will join the Oxford Martin Programme shortly thereafter. The Department of Geography and Environmental Management, and the Faculty of Environment, extends a heartfelt congratulation to Michelle on this remarkable accomplishment, and wishes her the best of luck in her postdoctoral studies at Oxford!
