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Sam Williams

Sam Williams

Durham University

About Me

I am a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Department of Zoology, University of Venda. I am also an Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Anthropology at Durham University, and a Researcher at the Institute for Globally Distributed Open Research and Education.

I live in the bush near Kruger National Park in South Africa with my family.

To find out more check out my website or follow me on Twitter.

My Research

My research focusses on carnivores in the Anthropocene, including investigating how carnivores help humans and how we can help them.

Selected Publications

Williams S.T., Maree N., Taylor P., Belmain S.R., Keith M., Swanepoel L.H. (2018) Camera trap and questionnaire dataset on ecosystem services provided by small carnivores in agro-ecosystems in South Africa. Data in Brief 18 (753–759). doi: 10.1016/j.dib.2018.03.071.

Parchizadeh, J., Gatta, M., Bencini, R., Adibi, M., & Williams, S.T. (2018). Urgent action required to conserve the Critically Endangered Asiatic cheetah Acinonyx jubatus venaticus. Oryx 52(2), 211-212. doi:10.1017/S0030605318000108.

Parchizadeh, J., Williams, S.T. (2018) Waterbirds targeted in Iran’s wetlands. Science 359 (6378):877–878. doi: 10.1126/science.aar8560.

Williams, S.T., Maree, N., Taylor, P., Belmain, S.R., Keith, M., Swanepoel, L.H. (2017) Predation by small mammalian carnivores in rural agro-ecosystems: An undervalued ecosystem service? Ecosystem Services. doi: 10.1016/j.ecoser.2017.12.006.

Parchizadeh, J. and Williams, S.T. (2017) Save Iran’s cheetah from extinction. Nature 552 (7683), 31. doi: 10.1038/d41586-017-08183-8.

Williams, S.T., Williams, K.S., Lewis, B.P. and Hill, R.A. (2017) Population dynamics and threats to an apex predator outside protected areas: implications for carnivore management. Royal Society Open Science 4. doi: 10.1098/rsos.161090.

Pitman, R.T., Fattebert, J., Williams, S.T., Williams, K.S., Hill, R.A., Hunter, L.T.B., Robinson, H., Power, J., Swanepoel, L., Slotow, R. and Balme, G.A. (2017), Cats, connectivity and conservation: incorporating datasets and integrating scales for wildlife management. Journal of Applied Ecology 54, 1687-1698. doi: 10.1111/1365-2664.12851.

Pitman, R., Fattebert, J., Williams, S.T., Williams, K.S., Hill, R., Hunter, L., Slotow, R. and Balme, G. (2017) The conservation costs of game ranching. Conservation Letters 10 (4), 403-413. doi: 10.1111/conl.12276.

Swanepoel, L.H., Balme, G., Williams, S., Power, R.J., Snyman, A., Gaigher, I., Senekal, C., Martins, Q. and Child, M. (2017) A Conservation Assessment of Panthera pardus. In: M.F. Child, L.R., D. Raimondo, E. Do Linh San, J. Selier and H. Davies-Mostert (eds), The Red List of Mammals of South Africa, Swaziland and Lesotho. South African National Biodiversity Institute and Endangered Wildlife Trust, Johannesburg. doi: 10.5281/zenodo.573259.

Ehlers-Smith, Y., Williams, S., Relton, C., and Child, M.F. (2017) A Conservation Assessment of Cephalophus natalensis. In: M.F. Child, L.R., D. Raimondo, E. Do Linh San, J. Selier and H. Davies-Mostert (eds), The Red List of Mammals of South Africa, Swaziland and Lesotho. South African National Biodiversity Institute and Endangered Wildlife Trust Johannesburg. doi: 10.5281/zenodo.809075.

Williams, S.T., Williams, K.S., Joubert, C.J. and Hill, R.A. (2016) The impact of land reform on the status of large carnivores in Zimbabwe. PeerJ 4, e1537. doi 10.7717/peerj.1537.

Recommended Reads

O’Bryan CJ., Braczkowski AR., Beyer HL., Carter NH., Watson JEM., McDonald-Madden E. 2018. The contribution of predators and scavengers to human well-being. Nature Ecology & Evolution 2:229–236. doi: 10.1038/s41559-017-0421-2.

Ripple WJ., Chapron G., López-Bao JV., Durant SM., Macdonald DW., Lindsey PA., Bennett EL., Beschta RL., Bruskotter JT., Campos-Arceiz A., Corlett RT., Darimont CT., Dickman AJ., Dirzo R., Dublin HT., Estes JA., Everatt KT., Galetti M., Goswami VR., Hayward MW., Hedges S., Hoffmann M., Hunter LTB., Kerley GIH., Letnic M., Levi T., Maisels F., Morrison JC., Nelson MP., Newsome TM., Painter L., Pringle RM., Sandom CJ., Terborgh J., Treves A., Van Valkenburgh B., Vucetich JA., Wirsing AJ., Wallach AD., Wolf C., Woodroffe R., Young H., Zhang L. (2016) Saving the World’s Terrestrial Megafauna. Bioscience 66:807–812. doi: 10.1093/biosci/biw092.

Ripple WJ., Estes JA., Beschta RL., Wilmers CC., Ritchie EG., Hebblewhite M., Berger J., Elmhagen B., Letnic M., Nelson MP., Schmitz OJ., Smith DW., Wallach AD., Wirsing AJ. (2014) Status and ecological effects of the world’s largest carnivores. Science 343: 1241484. doi: 10.1126/science.1241484.