
Articles by Ashley Stumvoll
Ashley recently finished her Master of Research in Tropical Forest Ecology at Imperial College London. She had fallen in love with the tropics as a young teen when she was given the chance to travel to the Peruvian Amazon, and has since been taking every opportunity to venture closer to the equator. Her time as an undergraduate at Emory University took her back the same location in Peru and solidified her interest in tropical conservation. Her academic career has taken her around the globe to countries like Trinidad and Tobago, Panama, Malaysia and Madagascar.
Ashley hopes to bring others to these places through her work, and to help
readers reach a greater understanding of the environmental issues facing our world. She has long held a passion for writing and values the ability to communicate with a wide spectrum of audiences. Moving forward, she hopes to work in a career that bridges the gap between science and policy to make effective conservation a reality.
Ashley is equally passionate about conservation in her native ecosystem in the Piedmont region, and has a special affinity for the native salamanders and oak trees. At her home in the D.C. suburbs, Ashley enjoys trying new recipes, reading literature and filling her bird feeder for the neighborhood squirrels and the occasional bird.


How climate change could throw Māori culture off-balance

Radio drama encourages Belizean fishers to follow the rules

Deforested habitats leave migratory birds ill-prepared for journey north

Fishery on the brink: The fight to save the Nassau grouper

Grasshoppers: They come, they eat, they … pollinate?
Special series
Forest trackers
- Indigenous Cacataibo of Peru threatened by land grabbing and drug trade
- Colombian and Ecuadorian Indigenous communities live in fear as drug traffickers invade
- Cocaine production driving deforestation into Colombian national park
- Industrial agriculture threatens a wetland oasis in Bolivia

Oceans
- 2020’s top ocean news stories (commentary)
- ‘Tamper with nature, and everyone suffers’: Q&A with ecologist Enric Sala
- New paper highlights spread of organized crime from global fisheries
- Study: Chinese ‘dark fleets’ illegally defying sanctions by fishing in North Korean waters

Amazon conservation
- Indigenous groups blast Amazon state’s plan to legalize wildcat mining
- In ‘dire’ plea, Brazil’s Amazonas state appeals for global COVID assistance
- Brazil’s collapsing health service, new COVID variant, raise Indigenous risk
- Lack of protection leaves Spain-size swath of Brazilian Amazon up for grabs

Land rights and extractives
- Indigenous groups blast Amazon state’s plan to legalize wildcat mining
- Papua tribe moves to block clearing of its ancestral forest for palm oil
- Protesters hold back military takeover of Balkans’ largest mountain pasture
- Podcast: New innovations to clean up the impacts of mining

Endangered environmentalists
- Brazilian woman threatened by Amazon loggers wins global human rights award
- Indonesian fishers opposed to dredging project hit by ‘criminalization’ bid
- Life as an Amazon activist: ‘I don’t want to be the next Dorothy Stang’
- In Philippines’ Palawan, top cop linked to assault on environmental officer

Indonesias forest guardians
- Why I stand for my tribe’s forest: It gives us food, culture, and life (commentary)
- Reforesting a village in Indonesia, one batch of gourmet beans at a time
- Restoring Sumatra’s Leuser Ecosystem, one small farm at a time
- Indigenous Iban community defends rainforests, but awaits lands rights recognition
