FAM Shun Deng
I am a political ecologist. This means that I see issues in the environment through a multidisciplinary lens, combining politics, economics, social anthropology and environmental sciences.
My inspiration as a naturalist growing was George Schaller. I was about nine when I picked up ‘Golden Shadows, Flying Hooves’ in the local public library. Since then, I was hooked onto nature. Although my early dream of moving to Africa and working with lions didn’t quite work out, I’ve earned a small reputation as a slow loris specialist.
While doing my Master’s degree in Primate Conservation, I became convinced that ‘pure’, or ‘apolitical’ ecology was not going to solve the extinction crisis, or, as it was emerging at the time, the climate change crisis. Scientists throwing numbers and charts at people end up alienating those whom they intended to convince, and often result in the hardening of opposing views. Scientists need to work with people, science need to be community-centric. For my PhD, I worked in Sarawak, with the communities displaced by the Bakun Dam, and with the environment that is now the reservoir and catchment area for the dam. I’ve worked on helping the communities find a voice, as well as ways to convert their expertise with the land and water into a new way to ensure their economic and cultural survival.
These days, I am also an academic based at the Fenner School of Environment and Society at the Australian National University. I teach undergrads statistics, as well as how to integrate environmental and social research into a single project. I am hoping that some day, we will be able to set up a field school of sorts in the Bakun area!
