Dame Eleanor Jane Milner-Gulland (born 3 June 1967) is the Tasso Leventis Professor of Biodiversity in the Department of Biology at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

, and director of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Conservation Science. She is an expert on understanding and influencing human behaviour to reduce biodiversity loss, on enabling businesses to improve their environmental and social sustainability, and on controlling the illegal wildlife trade. She is particularly known for her work on the ecology and conservation of the

Saiga Antelope The saiga antelope (, ''Saiga tatarica''), or saiga, is a species of antelope which during antiquity inhabited a vast area of the Eurasian steppe, spanning the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains in the northwest and Caucasus in the southwes ...

Early life and education

Milner-Gulland was born on 3 June 1967 in

Cuckfield Cuckfield ( ) is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Mid Sussex District, Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England, on the southern slopes of the Weald. It lies south of London, north of Brighton, and east northea ...

, Sussex. She is the elder daughter of the renowned Russian scholar

Robin Milner-Gulland Robert Rainsford "Robin" Milner-Gulland, FBA, FSA, (born Mill Hill; 24 February 1936) is a British scholar of Russian and Byzantine literature, culture, and art. His main areas of expertise are Russian modern & medieval cultural history, moder ...

and the artist Alison Milner-Gulland. She completed her undergraduate education at

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

in Pure and Applied Biology. She then went to

Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

to complete a PhD in conservation biology supervised by

John Beddington Sir John Rex Beddington (born 13 October 1945) is a British population biologist and Senior Adviser at the Oxford Martin School, and was previously Professor of Applied Population Biology at Imperial College London, and the UK Government Chief ...

. Her thesis was entitled ''The exploitation of certain large mammals for trade: the implications for management'' which she submitted in 1991.

Career

After completing her PhD, Milner-Gulland became a junior research fellow at New College, Oxford. In 1994, she became a lecturer in mathematical ecology at the University of Warwick. In 1998, she moved back to Imperial College, where she stayed until 2015. In 2007, she was appointed Professor of Conservation Science. In 2015 she became the Tasso Leventis Professor of Biodiversity at the University of Oxford and a fellow of

Merton College Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, chancellor ...

. In 2019 she became an official fellow of Parks College (later renamed Reuben College) where she was Theme Lead for Environmental Change. However, she moved back to Merton College in 2021. Milner-Gulland is a conservation scientist whose work is at the interface of social and biological systems. She is the founder and chair of the Saiga Conservation Alliance and has launched a number of initiatives which aim to change the real-world conversation around conservation, including the Conservation Hierarchy approach to meeting a global vision of restoring nature, the Conservation Optimism movement and the Alliance of Nature Positive Universities. She is the Chair of the UK Government's Darwin Expert Committee and a Trustee of the UK WWF. In 2015, Milner-Gulland became a Pew Fellow of Marine Conservation. She is also a trustee of the

Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust is a conservation organization with a mission to save species from extinction. Gerald Durrell founded the Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust as a charitable institution in 1963 with the dodo as its symbol. Th ...

Honours and awards

Milner-Gulland was appointed

Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(DBE) in the

2023 Birthday Honours The 2023 King's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms of King Charles III to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part ...

for services to international conservation. *

Marsh Award for Conservation Biology The Marsh Award for Conservation Biology, established 1991, is an award run in partnership between the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and the Marsh Charitable Trust that recognises an individual for his or her "contributions of fundamental sci ...

(2001) *

Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award The Royal Society Wolfson Fellowship, known as the Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award until 2020, is a 5 years fellowship awarded by the Royal Society since 2000. The scheme is described by the Royal Society as providing ''long-term flexib ...

(2008) * Society for Conservation Biology Distinguished Service Award (2019)

References

External links

Professor EJ Milner-Gulland homepage
zoo.ox.ac.uk. Accessed 19 June 2023. {{DEFAULTSORT:Milner-Gulland, EJ 1967 births Living people People from Cuckfield Alumni of New College, Oxford Alumni of Imperial College London English zoologists Fellows of Merton College, Oxford Fellows of Reuben College, Oxford Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award holders Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire