Scholar Spotlight - John Henry Lotz-McMillen

John Henry Lotz-McMillen, a Laidlaw Scholar at Georgetown University, on using wildlife monitoring to support Indigenous sovereignty and conservation in the Peruvian Amazon.

Research title

Sovereignty through Science: Capacity Building for Indigenous-led Wildlife Monitoring in the Peruvian Amazon

Please briefly outline what your research is about, and its potential real world impact 

My research focuses on strengthening Indigenous-led conservation by building local capacity for wildlife monitoring in the Maijuna-Kichwa Regional Conservation Area (MKRCA) of the Peruvian Amazon. For my 2025 Leadership in Action project, I conducted fieldwork alongside Maijuna hunters and conservation partners from the Sucusari community, helping deploy more than eighty-five camera traps to monitor mammal populations across nearly one million acres of protected rainforest. Through this experience, I gained technical skills in conservation ecology while learning how biodiversity science can be combined with policy to support Indigenous sovereignty.

Following the recent approval of a Wildlife Management Plan recognizing the sustainability of Maijuna hunting practices, long-term implementation now depends on the regular collection of wildlife monitoring data. Until now, this work has relied heavily on outside researchers and nonprofit organizations. This summer, we returned to the Maijuna community of Sucusari to help change that dynamic by training Indigenous youth and conservation leaders to independently deploy camera traps, manage ecological data, and monitor wildlife populations on their ancestral lands. By transferring these technical skills directly to the community, the project supports greater scientific self-sufficiency while reinforcing Indigenous leadership in natural resource management.

The broader impact of this work extends beyond wildlife monitoring. Building local scientific capacity enables Indigenous communities to generate the evidence needed to defend sustainable land management practices, strengthen conservation policy, and reduce dependence on external researchers. As biodiversity loss and pressures on tropical forests continue to grow, community-led wildlife management offers a model for protecting ecosystems while respecting Indigenous rights and knowledge. The Maijuna’s stewardship of the MKRCA and their collaboration with conservation scholars poses an inspiring model for the future of conservation.

Arriving at the Sucusari Community with our Maijuna guides after a hike

Where did your passion for this research originate? How does your personal story feed into it? 

I wanted to participate in this research project since I first saw it listed by the Georgetown Earth Commons my freshman year. I have always harbored a love for biodiversity, and studied Biology and Science, Technology and International Affairs with an energy and environment focus at Georgetown. After years of learning about the critical role the Amazon rainforest plays as the “lungs of the Earth” and a bastion of biodiversity, I was convinced that the Amazon was a critical frontline for conservation efforts and the fight against climate change.

While originally I was most excited by the opportunity to do hands-on conservation field work, I quickly found that making connections with and learning from our local indigenous partners was the most rewarding part of the project. When we returned to campus, I felt a strong sense of responsibility while analyzing the data and conducting a literature review on the sustainability of traditional Maijuna hunting practices, as I knew the people that my research would affect. Not only did I come away with firsthand knowledge of the Amazon’s ecosystems and foodwebs, but also with lasting friendships.

How have you applied your leadership skills in real life? What are some insights & lessons from your experience?

While trekking through the rainforest during the expedition, our research objectives and the challenges of the environment demanded constant awareness, decisive action, and coordination with the rest of the team. Typically, each hiking group consisted of a few student researchers with GPS, and a couple of local Maijuna guides, armed with shotguns and machetes to pave through thick brush. Our local guides often had intimate knowledge of the habitat and trails we walked through, and a successful day depended on our ability to work with the guides to locate specific camera trap sites. This required a careful dance of listening and responding to the advice of the Maijuna while providing precise and stern direction using our GPS.

During my second summer in Peru, I served as a Research Coordinator - a leadership role which came with additional responsibilities to manage the health and safety of the group as a whole. Each day, my partner and I would need to respond to the individual needs of our team and assign walking groups based on skill and comfort levels. Most of the group had never done field work before, and it was our job to follow each of their journeys as they became more comfortable with the rainforest and in leading camera trap groups. Not only were we the default decision makers when hiking in our groups, making tough calls on when to push onwards or turn back before nightfall, but we also had to ensure that every group had the collective leadership ability to keep one another safe.

The experience fundamentally changed my understanding of leadership. I learned that leadership is not about having all the answers or asserting authority, it is about creating an environment where others can succeed. Some of the most important decisions I had to make depended on my ability to listen to the expertise of our Maijuna partners and to be attuned to each group member’s strengths and weaknesses. At the same time, there were moments that demanded clear communication and decisive action despite uncertainty, when hesitation could compromise safety. Balancing humility with confidence taught me that effective leadership is situational: knowing when to lead from the front, when to step back, and how to empower others to become leaders themselves.

Please provide a short list of bullet points of your top leadership tips 

• Good leadership turns a group into something greater than the sum of its parts
• Prioritize situational awareness and understanding the relationships of those around you before taking action
• Know when to take charge and when to let events unfold naturally
• Trust your decisions when it’s time to act, but be adaptable

What does it mean for you to be a Laidlaw Scholar? 

Being a Laidlaw scholar enriched my undergraduate experience in ways I never could have expected. It is a special thing to be part of a community that cares about making the world a better place through research and also has the leadership qualities to see that change through. Laidlaw actively works to foster such communities, creating unique opportunities for both academic and leadership development while pushing us to connect the two. From getting to work at Lawrence Livermore National Lab to doing field work in the Amazon rainforest, I am so grateful to the Laidlaw Foundation and our Laidlaw coordinator at Georgetown for their support.

Which particular leaders inspire you the most and why?

My mom will always be my greatest source of leadership inspiration. She works in children’s publishing, changing the world by cultivating a steady stream of books filled with diverse perspectives and stories. When looking for a role model, I never need to look further than my own home - despite her unbreakable humility, my mom has guided independent children’s publishing to new heights through the deeply personal and caring relationships she develops with her authors and coworkers.

Briefly describe a scene from the future you are striving to create. 

I dream of an ecologically just world where the health of broader living ecosystems is protected alongside the humans that live in and depend on them. Taking inspiration from indigenous communities like the Maijuna, society will have learned how to apply technology as tools for a circular economy fueled by renewable resources instead of extraction. Instead of a world where elite social classes externalize the costs of their lifestyles onto the environment and the less fortunate, I dream of a world where working and living in shared socioecosystems becomes the norm and extreme inequality becomes a thing of the past. This is a very ambitious mission, but humanity has already proved it is possible.

Quick-fire Questions

📺 Currently Binging: 

Pantheon 

📚 My top book recommendation: 

The Overstory (Richard Powers)

🎶 My anthem:

WHERE SHE GOES (Bad Bunny)

🌈 Something that made me feel joy recently: