Jambo!
Glad to be here! My name is Kevin Lunzalu, an early career conservationist from Kenya. I'm currently studying towards a Masters degree in Coastal Science & Policy at the University of California, Santa Cruz. My capstone project focuses on the impact of plastics (both macro and micro, but mostly micro) on the suitability of critical nesting sites of sea turtles in Kenya's South Coast.I'm more into conservation policy, particularly meaningful inclusion of young people from local & indigenous communities into national and international conservation & climate frameworks. This is largely why I co-founded the Kenyan Youth Biodiversity Network, a fast-growing youth-led & youth-focused organization that brings together young people (with or without conservation backgrounds), to help take strategic action, input in policy roadmaps, and co-create solutions that respond to the conservation challenges that Kenya currently faces.Â
I'm open to any discussions, and happy to meet as many of you wonderful people as I can, so that we can trade ideas, experiences, opportunities, and knowledge! One area I have been roughly thinking about is maybe co-create a podcast platform to co-share youth perspectives on local-to-global conservation policies, success case studies, and how we can co-design youth-focused projects that enhance North-South partnerships to realize transformative conservation action and intergenerational equity.Â
My emails are klunzalu@ucsc.edu or kevin@youth4biodiversity.orgÂ