Dr Hani Rocha El Bizri
School of Science, Engineering & Environment
Current positions
Lecturer in Conservation Biology
Biography
I am a conservation biologist passionate about tropical forests, wildlife, and the interface between humans and nature. I graduated in Biological Sciences in 2012 at the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil, after which I worked as researcher on sustainable use of wildlife at the Mamirauá Sustainable Development Institute, in Central Brazilian Amazon, for three years, between 2013 and 2015.
Following this I completed my MSc in Animal Health and Production in 2017 at the Universidade Federal Rural da Amazônia, Brazil. In that same year, I was granted the Green Talents award by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, which resulted in a Research Fellowship position at the Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), in Leipzig, working on estimations of wildlife trade in the Brazilian and Peruvian Amazon.
I then completed my PhD in Natural Sciences in 2021 at the Manchester Metropolitan University, UK. From 2021 to 2022, I acted as a Research Fellow at Oxford Brookes University, working on zoo outreach and conservation of primates, and as a consultant for developing a toolkit of ecological indicators of wildlife hunting at the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), before joining the University of Salford in mid-2022.
Areas of Research
I have a strong interest in understanding the impacts and sustainability of wildlife harvest in the tropics. My studies involve unveiling the patterns of hunting, trade, and consumption of wild meat (meat of wild animals) by local people and urban residents. In addition, I investigate the traits of hunted species using data collected through participatory methods, such as participatory collection of biological samples (done by local people themselves) and citizen science. In these projects, I organize and conduct large field expeditions to remote places, especially in the Amazon, working as a team with other researchers, local communities and environmental leaders; and analyse long-term biodiversity monitoring datasets.
I work in partnership with a range of international institutions. I am an associate researcher of the Mamirauá Sustainable Development Institute, in Central Amazonia; a collaborator of the Universidade Federal Rural da Amazônia, in Belém, Brazil; and a collaborator of the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), with headquarters in Bongor, Indonesia.
I teach and supervise in a range of modules across different levels.
BSc courses (Wildlife Conservation, Marine Biology, Zoology, Biological Sciences):
Level 4 – Field Biology, Study Skills
Level 5 – Conservation Biology, Wildlife Research and Study Skills
Level 6 – Final Year Project, Practical Ecology and Conservation
MSc Wildlife Conservation:
Level 7 – Global Conservation Challenges, Contemporary Topics in Wildlife Conservation, Research Skills and Design for Conservation Science, Conservation Fieldwork in the Tropics
Qualifications
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PhD Natural Sciences
2017 - 2021 -
MSc Animal Health and Production
2017 - 2017 -
Biological Sciences
2006 - 2012