Hi,
My name is Dr Paul Keil. I am not a hunter, but am an academic researcher. I am doing research on pigdog hunting in Australia, specifically Northern NSW / Southern Queensland. I am based in Australia but am employed at a European university, part of a larger project studying boar hunting across Europe and internationally.
I am not a undercover greenie, do not work for PETA, and do not adopt an ethically critical position towards pigdog hunting. I am interesting in understanding hunting with dogs as a legitimate past-time, cultural practice, and community in Australia. (you can see my academic profile here - I did previous research on sheepdogs in NSW and working elephants in India).
I am interested in interviewing pigdog hunters in regard to dog training, teamwork with their dog, their perspectives on feral pigs and hunting, as well as other related issues. I understand that hunters can generally be cagey around outsiders, which is fair enough. But if you are interested in knowing more about my research and possibly participating in it, please feel free to send me a message. The goal of my work is to accurately represent hunting from the perspective of hunters themselves.
I'm announcing myself on this message board to look for potential participants but also because, ethically speaking, researchers should be open and upfront about their intentions and work, and respectful to the people they are researching. It also gives the community and admin an opportunity to decide whether they are comfortable with having a researcher signed up to the Ozziedogger forum.
Cheers
Paul
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Paul G. Keil Ph.D.
Postdoctoral researcher, TANDEM Bewildering Boars Project
Institute of Ethnology, Czech Academy of Sciences
https://mq.academia.edu/PaulKeil
paul.g.keil@hotmail.com