CONSERVATION AND WAR STUDIES JOIN HANDS

Pembroke alumnus and philanthropist Dr Thomas S. Kaplan has committed over £4 million to Pembroke College to establish the Recanati-Kaplan Minerva Institute — the world’s first-ever interdisciplinary research centre dedicated to tackling urgent global challenges at the intersection of environmental conservation and security.

While as disciplines they might be considered strange bedfellows at first sight, consider for a moment just how thoroughly satellite surveillance and drones have come to define Ukraine’s conflict with Russia and how often they are utilised in anti-poaching strategies. The common theme is strategic intelligence.

Make no mistake, this announcement constitutes a world-first and it leverages two acclaimed existing institutes at Oxford: the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU) and the Strategy, Statecraft, and Technology (Changing Character of War) Centre (SST-CCW).

The new Recanati-Kaplan Minerva Institute will fund fellowship programmes, the recruitment of outstanding early-career researchers, first-rate executive training, public engagement opportunities, and cross-disciplinary ventures.

As innovative intelligence capabilities increasingly define conservation and statecraft, the Institute will capitalise on this overlap — in effect creating a new core discipline.

Dr Kaplan said: 'So much of my life’s work in multiple spheres has been informed and reinforced by applying the undergraduate and post-graduate education in History that I received at Oxford. My wife, Daphne, and I are thrilled to partner with Pembroke in founding such a unique and potent initiative in support of a thriving and most influential research community dedicated to achieving real world impact. Leaders in their own right, WildCRU and SST-CCW will now be equipped to jointly advance both knowledge and action through bespoke collaboration, turbocharging Oxford’s strategic profile in conservation and statecraft, as well as their related disciplines.'

Part of the University of Oxford’s Department of Biology, WildCRU’s mission is to transform wildlife conservation through world-class research, training, and implementation.

Professor Amy Dickman (below left) has been Director of WildCRU since 2022, as well as Kaplan Senior Research Fellow at Pembroke and joint CEO of Lion Landscapes. She shared: 'This gift is extraordinary, and will be transformative for both WildCRU and Pembroke. It reflects Tom’s vision and long-standing commitment to tackling the fields of conservation and international security as a strategic nexus. These challenges cannot be addressed in isolation, and this new initiative will make a pivotal contribution towards combatting some of the most pressing threats of our time.'

Already based at Pembroke, SST-CCW is a global leader in the evolving character of war. In addition to delivering leadership training and research programmes, SST-CCW has a remarkable track record in producing cutting-edge strategic thinking and shaping government policy around the world.

Director of SST-CCW and Pembroke Senior Research Fellow Dr Rob Johnson (above right) commented: 'We are honoured to be selected to educate future leaders working at the intersection of conservation and security. Thanks to the generous support of Dr Kaplan, the Recanati-Kaplan Minerva Institute is ideally positioned to harness the advanced technologies available to develop innovative and integrated approaches to ensuring the protection of wildlife, natural environments, and habitats from the ravages of poaching and war.'

Master of Pembroke College, Sir Ernest Ryder, said: 'Pembroke College is delighted and honoured to host this important and innovative collaboration. We are hugely grateful to Dr Kaplan whose vision and investment in the Recanati-Kaplan Minerva Institute will see the global impact of both WildCRU and SST-CCW advance substantially. Through collaborative research, implementation and training, the centres will be strategically placed not only to tackle global challenges of geopolitical uncertainty, strategic threats, and biodiversity conservation, but also to examine the interplay between stability, security and conservation in a precarious world.'

Dr Kaplan’s present donation to establish the Recanati-Kaplan Minerva Institute follows his family’s pioneering contributions to wildlife conservation and to the University. These include the endowment of WildCRU’s Recanati-Kaplan Centre, support for the WildCRU Director, and the funding of Oxford’s Postgraduate Diploma in International Wildlife Conservation Practice, which forms an integral part of WildCRU’s training goals.