Lauren Young is an Analyst at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC). She joined in October 2024 and is currently working on the EU-funded ECO-SOLVE project, primarily on the work stream on the use of data and tech for disrupting illegal wildlife trade. Prior to joining GI-TOC, Lauren was a Research Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies (RUSI) and an independent consultant working on organised environmental crime.

Her previous research includes: a global horizon scan exploring the relationship between illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and climate change; capacity building to improve financial crime responses to illegal wildlife trade trafficking in West and Central Africa; exploring environmental and human security risks associated with critical mineral extraction in the UK’s energy transition; an investigation into trafficking of protected wildlife through legal supply chains in South America; an investigation of new strategies for tackling cyber-enabled wildlife crime in the UK; content development of e-crime tools for law enforcement agencies in South East Asia; a strategic review of the South African Development Community’s (SADC) Law Enforcement and Anti-Poaching (LEAP) strategy for USAID, and an economic analysis of illegal trade in cycad species in Eastern and Southern Africa.

Lauren is currently a PhD Candidate in Biodiversity Management at the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, University of Kent, where she is investigating elephant ivory trafficking routes in East Africa. She also holds an MSc in Conservation and International Wildlife Trade from the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, and a BA (Hons) in History from University College London. In a voluntary capacity, she helps to manage and coordinate a conservation project in the Peruvian Amazon.