We ground our consulting work and writing in critical thinking, systems thinking, and mindfulness, bringing practical experience, expertise, and empathy together with creativity and an eagerness to connect and learn. We primarily work in coastal and ocean conservation and its intersections with rights, livelihoods, and well-being. However, our work readily transfers to more general topics in conservation and the environment, sustainable development, project management, and social justice, including our work sharing perspectives of nonspeaking autistic people. Through this work, we embrace a Design Thinking approach.
Social-ecological research for conservation, sustainable development, and program monitoring & evaluation. Qualitative & quantitative approaches applied to topics including:
- Action-to-outcomes pathways
- Stakeholder perspectives & inclusion
- Human-centered project/toolkit design
- Bycatch in small-scale fisheries
Participant-centered design, implementation, and assessment of activities to ensure inclusive, engaging, and sustained learning & impact. Includes:
- Project design & proposal writing trainings
- Gender in conservation workshop
- Systems Thinking for Conservation training
- Stakeholder consultations
Bringing technical expertise and attention to detail to yield clear and accurate outputs, aligned with donor, organization, and project guidelines. Output types include:
- Technical reports for conservation topics
- Conservation management plans
- Proposal preparation
- Peer-reviewed articles in coastal conservation
Bringing our knowledge and personal experiences together to create pieces – analyses for general audiences, personal essays, and poetry – to inform, move, and uplift. Topics include:
- Environmental issues
- Stories from the conservation field
- Empathy, mindfulness, and impact
- Advocacy for nonspeaking autistic people
Latest News, Views, & Stories
Moment
I told Papa all about what you’ve been doing, all of your great progress. I saw him, fleetingly, this morning. He was thrilled, of course. Profoundly. In awe, withContinue reading “Moment”
Skies Revolve
It is oppressively sunny, blaring, glaring. I’m in the upstairs living room with heat streaming in the rows of windows, sitting compressed under the heavy air, bleary eyed, frantically hunched over the computer, disheveled.
Global Conservation & My Disregarded To-Do Lists
Global Conservation & My Disregarded To-Do Lists About a year ago, I had a mini-revelation about international conservation that made me feel marginally better about my seeming inability toContinue reading “Global Conservation & My Disregarded To-Do Lists”
Journey Mapping: A research tool for empathy
As a conservation researcher whose work focuses on the interactions between conservation efforts and communities, a critically important part of my job is to better understand people.
Minutes & lifetimes
Minutes & lifetimes Ten minutes. Ten minutes of sitting on the edge of a pool somewhere in a suburb of Jakarta, eyes closed, breathing steadily, legs dangling in theContinue reading “Minutes & lifetimes”
Why we need conservation realism
Welcome to the Conservation Realist publication!
In the conservation world, there are often starry-eyed calls for optimism. “Hope spots” and “bright spots.” A common rallying cry: “We have to show that it’s not all doom and gloom!”
What’s often ignored is that there is a vast and rich middle ground between optimism and doom. It’s realism. And we need more of it to be incorporated in mainstream conservation conversations and actions.
Design Thinking & Conservation
With thoughtful and responsible use, Design Thinking can substantially contribute to more effective, equitable, and ethical conservation practices.
Developing an Innovative Conservation Training Program
At the Myanmar Coastal Conservation Lab (MCCL) at Point B Design + Training, we’ve developed a thoughtful, remarkably effective training program to build research and conservation skills and knowledgeContinue reading “Developing an Innovative Conservation Training Program”
Environmentalism in a Pandemic: The importance of critical, empathetic, and future-driven thinking
Written in April – some thoughts and quick information search on what the pandemic actually means for the environment, beyond thoughtless “nature is healing” memes. Posted in the AgeContinue reading “Environmentalism in a Pandemic: The importance of critical, empathetic, and future-driven thinking”
What dwells in these muddy waters: The quest for dolphins and porpoises in the Gulf of Mottama, Myanmar
About our journey – from an unexpected revelation in India, to poking around fishing villages, to finally seeing the animals with our own eyes – to start a researchContinue reading “What dwells in these muddy waters: The quest for dolphins and porpoises in the Gulf of Mottama, Myanmar”
A Street in a Strange World
An old bit of musing that I wrote while leaving Jakarta after a whirlwind – yet tedious – visit to process my research permit in 2012. Posted in Medium
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Tara Sayuri Whitty, PhD 