Daniel Tregidgo

Daniel is interested in ecological and social perspectives of wild food (mainly fish and bushmeat) systems in the Amazon. He has spent many months in Amazonian riverside communities, mainly along the River Purus, but also near Belém and Tefé. There, his fieldwork mainly involves quantitative interviews, investigating questions related to fishing, hunting, food security, food preferences, and local perceptions.

He undertook a dual-PhD between Lancaster University in the UK and the Federal University of Lavras (UFLA) in Brazil. During a post-doctoral research project at UFLA he began work with food scientists to better understand the nutritional value of Amazonian wild foods (starting with fish). This research will feed into his current work.

His vision is very much one of sustainable development and community-based conservation. This brought him to the Mamirauá Institute for Sustainable Development in the Brazilian Amazon, where he now works. He is now hoping to better understand from where Amazonians derive their micronutrients, and how this varies through the seasons, and between households and communities. Working with local health organisations in Tefé, he aims to help improve food and nutritional security in local communities, through better understanding of the ecology, nutritional value and use of local animal and plant products.