Monique is a wildlife crime and security specialist who merges her hands-on experience in wildlife crime analysis and prevention with field conservation. She works from a crime science theoretical perspective. Her work in this field is reflected in her over two dozen academic articles, reports, and book chapters, alongside a co-authored book on African security and politics in Benin. With nearly a decade of research experience on wildlife crime and prevention, Monique focuses on integrating academic insights into practical field operations to ensure they are evidence-based and optimally effective. She has received grants from the US Department of State, PEW Charitable Trusts, and has been recognized by the UNODC’s Education for Justice Initiative. Monique holds an MSc in Global Wildlife Health and Conservation and has completed her PhD in criminal justice with a focus on the assessment of field tactics and environments for the improvement of wildlife crime prevention.
Courses Taught
CRJ 100 Introduction to Criminal JusticeCRJ 203 Criminology
CRJ 307 Database Operations
CRJ 406 Crime Analysis and Mapping
CRJ 407 Crime Prevention Systems
CRJ 460W Senior Capstone
Education
- PhD, Criminal Justice, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, 2023
- MSc, Global Wildlife Health and Conservation, University of Bristol, 2017 – cum Laude
- BA, Environmental Science, Loyola University Chicago, 2016 – Magna cum Laude
- BS, Psychology, Loyola University Chicago, 2016 – Magna cum Laude
Publications
- Monique Sosnowski, Operation Crevette: Benin, Mercenaries, and the Survival of a New State., L. Sosnowski (Ed.), , Lanham, MD: Lexington Press (2024).
- Gohar Petrossian, Angie Elwin, Monique Sosnowski, Thanaphon Nunphong, Ho-Tu Chiang, Jim Karani and Neil D'Cruze, A Synthesis of Wild Animal Related Trade Laws in Some of the World’s Most Biodiverse Countries, Journal of Environmental Management, 354(12014) 2024.
- Khanwilkar, Sosnowski and Guynup, Toward a scientific understanding of the international tiger trade: Response to Kolby and Weissgold (2022), Conservation Science and Practice, 5(8) 2023.
- Pires, Thompson, Petrossian and Sosnowski, A Social Network Analysis of Large-Scale Wildlife Seizures Made at US Ports of Entry, Deviant Behavior, 44(8) 2022, 1237-1250.
- Petrossian, Barthuly and Sosnowski, Identifying Central Carriers and Detecting Communities within Global Transshipment Networks, , 9 2022.
- Petrossian, Pires, Sosnowski, Venu and Olah, Threats of Longline Fishing to Global Albatross Diversity, Animals, 12(7) 2022.
- Sosnowski, Kim, Petrossian and Asner, Profiling Wildlife Crimes Prosecuted Federally by the United States, Frontiers in Conservation Science, 2022.
- Khanwilkar, Sosnowski and Guynup, A decade of illegal and legal tiger parts entering the United States, Conservation Science and Practice, 4(3) 2022.
- Sosnowski, The Prosecution of Environmental Crimes in the United States: Establishing a Baseline Using Comparative Analysis, International Journal of Higher Education Policy, 2021.
- Sosnowski and Petrossian, Illegal and Legal Wildlife Trade Analysis Discourse: Response to Natusch et al. (2021), Conservation Biology, 35(5,5) 2021.
- Petrossian, Sosnowski and Weis, The Illegal Trade in Live Corals to the United States, Ocean and Coastal Management, 196 2020.
- Petrossian, Sosnowski, Rouzbahani and Miller, Flags for Sale: An Analysis of Factors Influencing Illegal Fishers’ Flag of Convenience Choice, Marine Policy, 2020.
- Sosnowski, Weis and Petrossian, Using Crime Script Analysis to Understand the Illegal Harvesting of Live Corals: Case Studies from Indonesia and Fiji, Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 36(3) 2020.
- Sosnowski and Petrossian, Luxury Fashion Wildlife Contraband in the United States, Ecohealth, 17 2020, 94–110.
- Sosnowski, Knowles, Takahashi and Rooney, Global Ivory Market Prices since the 1989 CITES Ban, Biological Conservation, 2019.
- Sosnowski, Black Markets: A comparison of the illegal ivory and narcotic trades, Deviant Behavior, 41(4), 434-443.
Presentations
- Monique Sosnowski, “Terrorism and Wildlife Conservation: Profiling Scenarios and Reporting.” Paper presented to the American Society of Criminology, Philadelphia, PA on November 17, 2023.
- Monique Sosnowski, “Exploring the Role of Fishing Vessels as Drug Suppliers from Latin America Into the United States.” Poster accepted at the American Society of Criminology, Philadelphia, PA on November 16, 2023.
Awards & Honors
- 50 People Changing the World that the World Should Know About, 2024.
