Andrew Gosler

Andy Gosler is Professor of Ethno-ornithology in the University of Oxford. Holding a joint position between the Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology and the Institute of Human Sciences (School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography), his research now falls at the intersection between Ornithology and Anthropology, i.e. Ethno-ornithology: the study of birds, and the study of human engagement with birds, especially within the broad context of nature conservation.

With Sonia Tidemann, he co-edited the book Ethno-ornithology: Birds, Indigenous Peoples, Culture and Society, published in 2010 in hardback and in paperback in the following year. The book shows that within the broader context of ethno-biology, ethno-ornithology has hitherto largely concerned relatively localized anthropological studies of the ways in which indigenous people engage (or have engaged) with birds for food, companionship, art and inspiration, in connection with spirituality, and as a significant element of folk-taxonomy and Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and how these diverse relationships are expressed linguistically. Now, the scope of ethno-ornithology, revealing and affirming the diverse connections people have with birds globally, is part of a new paradigm for community-led conservation.