Leo Douglas

Leo R. Douglas

Clinical Assistant Professor

Leo Douglas is a Clinical Assistant Professor at Liberal Studies. He received his Ph.D., a Masters of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology, and an Advanced Environmental Policy Certificate from Columbia University. He also holds a Masters of Philosophy degree in Zoology from the University of the West Indies, Jamaica. He is the immediate past-president of BirdsCaribbean, the largest single international NGO focusing on the conservation flora and fauna within the greater Caribbean region. He is a former board member of the Society for Conservation Biology (SCB). His previous professional experiences include work as the Executive Director of BirdLife Jamaica, and a manager for the United States Agency for International Development's (USAID-Jamaica) Ridge to Reef Sustainable Watersheds Project for four years. He describes his work as “Nature and Society Geography” as it lies with the complex nexus of human-environment relations within space, place, biodiversity conservation and social identities. His research has been funded by organizations such as Rufford Grants for Nature, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), National Science Foundation (NSF), Idea Wild, and Loro Parque Foundation. His research has been published in the journals Biodiversity and Conservation, Biotropica, Environment and Society, The Journal of Caribbean Ornithology, and Biological Conservation. His publications include “A Teacher’s Guide to the Birds of Jamaica.”

Education

Ph.D. – Columbia University
Advanced Certificate in Environmental Policy – Columbia University
M.Sc. – Columbia University
M.Phil. – University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica   

Teaching and Research Interests

Natural Resource-based Conflict; Sustainable Land Management; Behavior-Change; Wildlife Trade; Conservation Biology

Selected Honors and Awards

2022 – NYU Arts & Science Teaching Innovation Award

2022 – NYU Center for the Humanities Two-Year Working Group Grant Recipient

2021 – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Faculty Award

2021 – NYU Arts & Science Teaching Innovation Award

2018 – Musgrave Medal, for Distinguished Eminence in the Field of Science

2016 – Partners in Flight (PIF) Leadership Award, for Outstanding Contribution to Bird Conservation

2010 – Best Oral Presentation Award: Student Conference on Conservation Science New York (SCCS-NY)

2004 – Fulbright Scholar

2001 – Government of Jamaica Millennium Scholar

2001 – Best Oral Presentation Award: University of the West Indies, Faculty of Pure & Applied Sciences, Fifth Conference

Selected Publications

Douglas, L.R. & Alie, K. (2014) "High-value natural resources: linking wildlife conservation to international conflict, insecurity, and development concerns." Biological Conservation, 171, 270–277.

Douglas, L.R. & Winkel, G. (2014) "The Flipside of the Flagship." Biodiversity & Conservation, 23, 979–997.

Douglas, L.R. & Veríssimo, D. (2013) "Flagships or Battleships—Deconstructing the relationship between social conflict and conservation flagship species." Environment and Society: Advances in Research, 4, 98–116.

Douglas, L.R., Winkel, G. & Sherry, T.W. (2013) "Does the Bananaquit Benefit Commensally from Parrot Frugivory? An Assessment Using Habitat Quality." Biotropica, 45, 457–464.

Root-Bernstein, M., Douglas, L.R., Smith, A. & Veríssimo, A. (2013) "Anthropomorphized species as tools for conservation: Utility beyond prosocial, intelligent and suffering species." Biodiversity & Conservation, 22, 1577–1589.