PhD candidate, Geography
Faculty advisor: Lisa Naughton
Sarah Tolbert is a PhD candidate from Canton, Ohio. Before she started graduate school, Sarah’s career in community engagement took her to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ghana, and Rwanda. She also served in the Peace Corps in Benin.
Sarah’s PhD research focuses on how to increase local communities’ capacity for forest conservation in the DRC.
“Some of the world’s most biodiverse and carbon-rich forests are found in remote areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo where state agencies have limited power. Community stewardship is therefore crucial for forest conservation,” she said.
Sarah said that over the last decade, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have invested heavily in establishing local community forest concessions, which allow communities to own their local forests under a 2014 law. Her PhD research investigates the effects of NGO-led forest decentralization on forest governance in the eastern DRC and how NGOs influence conservation efforts.
“On the ground research in the Congo Basin is desperately needed to better understand the challenges local communities face when trying to conserve their forests,” Sarah said. “Without this contextual understanding it is unlikely we will be able to stem the worst impacts from climate change.”
She hopes her research will help non-profits, philanthropic donors, and national governments understand how to best support local communities to achieve their conservation and development goals. Further, she hopes this research expands the narrow narrative of the eastern DRC as a war-torn, conflict riddled place. “Instead, throughout this region communities are fighting to conserve their wildlife and forests under difficult circumstances,” she said.
Sarah received a WARF-funded University Fellowship in 2021-2022. This played a huge part in her decision to attend UW–Madison and to be able to work with her advisor, Dr. Lisa Naughton, who is an expert in the field.
“I am incredible grateful and honored to have received the University Fellowship,” Sarah said. “It provided the necessary funding to both develop and now begin the writing stage of my dissertation. Without it, I would not have been able to devote the time needed to navigate the cumbersome visa process for the DRC nor to adapt my research plans as needed for safety reasons. I am incredibly thankful I was able to spend 14 months in the eastern DRC diving into conservation and governance issues, and I thank the donors for making that opportunity possible.”
Sarah recently received the Aldo Leopold Fellowship and the Belgian American Education Foundation Award to further support her work. She said the WARF funding allowed her to take the time to apply for and secure these awards, which have allowed her to incorporate archival work into her dissertation project as she prepares to graduate.