After thirty years as a print journalist that included working for several national newspapers, Jasper Humphreys gained a BA War Studies (2007-2010) as a mature student: this was a culmination of a life-time interest in causes of conflict gained from extensive travel in many parts of the world, especially Africa and Latin America.

In 2010 in conjunction with Professor Michael Rainsborough he launched the Marjan Centre for the Study of Conflict and the Environment in the Department of War Studies which grew out of a shared interest in issues connected to the environment such as climate change and resource wars and how these are connected to conflict.

Soon after they were joined by Dr Richard Milburn and Adrian Garside as well as other collaborations. Since then Jasper Humphreys is pleased to note that interest in these topics has vastly increased and he feels pleased to have been part of that process.

Research Interests

All conflict related topics include:

• Climate change
• Resource Wars
• Water Wars
• Strategic Wildlife Protection
• Illegal Wildlife Trade and Security

The over-arching theme of the research is to better understand the links between conflict and environmental issues: we have conflict and we have environmental problems but what we are uncertain about are the mechanisms between the two.

Publications

2017 - M.L.R. Smith and Jasper Humphreys, ‘Militarised Responses to the Illegal Wildlife Trade’, in The War on Crime: Assessing Militarised Responses to Transnational Organised Crime, Tuesday Reitano and Sasha Jesperson eds, Palgrave MacMillan.

2016 – Prof. Rosaleen Duffy and Jasper Humphreys, ‘Poaching, wildlife trafficking and human security’, co-publication with Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), Whitehall Paper 86 (1), Poaching, Wildlife Trafficking and Security in Africa eds, MLR Smith and Cathy Haenlein.

2015 - M. L. R Smith and Jasper Humphreys, ‘The poaching paradox; why South Africa’s “rhino wars” shine a harsh spotlight on security and conservation, in Environment crime and social conflict: contemporary and emerging issues, Avi Brisman, Nigel South and Rob White eds, Ashgate. 

2014 - Co-curated the following articles in International Affairs 90: 4, July 2014:

- M. L. R. Smith and Jasper Humphreys, ‘The “rhinofication” of South African security’.

- Dr Rosaleen Duffy, ‘Waging a war to save biodiversity: the rise of militarized conservation’.

- Dr Rob White, ‘Environmental insecurity and fortress mentality’.

- Dr Robert A. Francis and Krishna Krishnamurthy, ‘Human conflict and ecosystems services: finding the environmental price of warfare’.

- Dr Richard Milburn. ‘The roots to peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo: conservation as a platform for green development’.

2012 - Jasper Humphreys, ‘Resource wars: searching for a new definition’, International Affairs 88: 5, September, pp. 1065-82.

2011 - M. L. R. Smith and Jasper Humphreys, ‘Protecting endangered species’, Criminal Justice Matters 83: 1.

- M. L. R. Smith and Jasper Humphreys, ‘War and wildlife: the Clausewitz connection’, International Affairs 83: 1, January, pp. 121-42

Teaching

Conflict and the Environment MA (2014-2020)

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