Hello everyone!

My name is Joseph Ssenkoomi, and I am thrilled to join this community. I am a Ugandan biologist, educator, and field researcher. I recently graduated from Kabale University with a BSc in Education (Biology/Chemistry), and I am currently pursuing postgraduate research opportunities in One Health and Climate Change.

My research focuses on the "Modernization Paradox"—the hypothesis that as cities modernize their waste systems and exclude avian scavengers (like vultures), we inadvertently increase zoonotic disease risks by creating an "empty niche" for feral dogs and rats. I am the Lead Author of a formally registered PRISMA-ScR scoping review on this topic (OSF DOI: 10.17605/OSF.IO/R895S).

A few other things I am working on:

· Co-Convener for the Pan-African Ornithological Congress (PAOC 2027), organizing the symposium "Counting What Remains: Vulture Status and Monitoring across Africa."

· Founder of the Kabale University Bird Watchers Association (KUBWA), where we turn students into stewards for birds through biodiversity monitoring.

· Recently, I submitted my baseline manuscript on scavenging birds and urban waste in Uganda to the Kabale University Research Journal for peer review.

I am here to connect with fellow researchers, learn from your experiences, and collaborate. I am particularly interested in meeting people working on One Health, WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene), and African ornithology.

Feel free to connect with me here or on LinkedIn!