Katie M Cook

Research

My current research focuses on effective conservation planning strategies for national forest protected areas within the Brazilian Amazon. Spanning an area of over 50,000 hectares, these areas have recently been slated for selective logging due to a change in government forest policy. The impact of these changes must be understood and if necessary, mitigated as these areas contain high levels of biodiversity and in some cases, important threatened species.

For my masters project, I will determine the species living within the national forests and using the literature, quantify the threat that selective logging presents to them. By combining this data along with several other metrics such as connectivity, national forests will be assigned conservation values. These findings could then be used to improve forest management strategies.

If forests of highest conservation value could receive increased protection before logging commences, biodiversity loss may be mitigated.

About me

I’m a bit of a foodie and spend a lot of my free time cooking, baking and eating tasty food. I also enjoy spending time outdoors hiking, taking photos, travelling to new places and experiencing the food, culture and nature.