Miranda Lam

Email: [email protected]

I am a conservation scientist with a background in ecology and nature-based solutions. I am broadly interested in how conservation interventions can achieve environmental goals effectively while supporting equitable and sustainable development.

My PhD research explores how conservation and climate initiatives interact with agriculture and local livelihoods, particularly in the context of forest protection and leakage - the displacement of environmentally damaging activities from protected areas to surrounding landscapes. I study how land-use restrictions influence local communities and whether agricultural intensification, as part of conservation and sustainable development efforts, can improve local welfare, strengthen food security, and mitigate leakage risks.

Prior to my PhD, I worked at the Cambridge Centre for Carbon Credits, where I assessed the climate, biodiversity, and social impacts of carbon credit projects using publicly available datasets and satellite imagery. I later pursued an MPhil investigating the issue of leakage in conservation. My thesis, “Perceptions of conservation leakage and mitigation through agricultural intensification,” combined a rapid literature synthesis, interviews with agricultural experts, and a global survey of conservation practitioners to examine how leakage is perceived and managed in practice.