Julee Jerang, a Catmosphere Fellow with Conservation Nation, is an Indigenous researcher from the Bori traditional territory in the Siang Basin of Arunachal Pradesh, Northeast India. She is the first from her community to pursue a Ph.D., with research focused on nature–culture transitions in the region. Working in her community’s ancestral forests, she studies medium- to large-sized mammals, including tigers, and examines how rural-to-urban migration and associated cultural change are reshaping relationships between Indigenous communities, wildlife, and forest landscapes.
When the Forest Moves with the People: Indigenous Migration, Memory, and Tiger Conservation among the Bori of Arunachal Pradesh, India
Julee’s project explores tiger conservation in Arunachal Pradesh by integrating traditional management systems with modern scientific approaches. It examines how cross-cultural interactions in urban areas reshape perceptions and practices related to wildlife and investigates strategies for fostering coexistence between local communities and tigers. The research combines camera trap surveillance, community surveys, and ecological monitoring to develop actionable insights that link cultural knowledge with conservation outcomes. Through this research, she will work to build an inclusive, resilient conservation model grounded in local knowledge, contributing meaningfully to tiger protection. This will be the first in–depth study of tigers in her homeland, improving understanding of their distribution, habitat use, and population health to guide future ecosystem and species management in the region.