My background is mainly in species conservation, education and capacity development. I researched mother-young interactions in gorillas and chimpanzees, in captivity and the wild. After that, I worked for three years in Indonesia, where I developed and implemented youth ambassador and community engagement programmes on local and regional scales. I work as Community Manager at WildHub since 2020, and I am an Associate Member of the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE) at the University of Kent where I obtained my PhD on capacity development for conservation in 2022. 

After a decade of training to be a wildlife conservationist, I founded Lonely Conservationists to help conservationists thrive by providing a platform to be heard, employment pathways and a strong community foundation. As well as running Lonely Conservationists, I teach sustainability incursions and excursions to school students in a classroom, forest and marine park environments.

I have been working for the last 3 years with World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)- India in the eastern Himalayas. My interests and research fall in an interdisciplinary field of ecology and social sciences. My interests are particularly in community based conservation approaches, understanding social-ecological systems and the role of Traditional ecological knowledge in conservation.

I am a conservation biologist with great interest in the application of conservation science into a practical solution. I work with scientists, practitioners and academics in conservation and sustainability sector. Specialties: SE Asia terrestrial ecology (in bats and other mammals), High Conservation Values (HCV), Natural Resource Management & Conservation, Interdisciplinary Research, Quality Assurance, Sustainability Issues (in oil palm sector).

I have a background in Social Anthropology and recently graduated from DICE with an MSc in Conservation and Rural Development. I carried out fieldwork in Uganda for my dissertation focusing on the impacts of tourism and conservation on residents working in community-led enterprises that live around Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Prior to that I interned at Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH) a grassroots NGO focused on improving community well-being and mountain gorilla conservation using a one health approach. . I believe that securing and supporting the rights of indigenous and local people are crucial and I am passionate about environmental and social justice and interested in the political ecology of conservation, convivial conservation and bio-cultural approaches to conservation.

I have nineteen years of international experience in the field of conservation both in situ and ex-situ. From an early age, I have been passionate and intrigued by the natural world. My love of African wildlife and the continent they live in has shaped the person I am today and in turn the direction my professional career has taken. From my first visit to Tanzania to my current work in Namibia, I have come to understand the multifaceted relationship between wildlife and people. It cannot be denied that people are the root cause of a species decline but they are also the key to a species survival as well; this is my focus. Every one of my projects has grown my understanding of this relationship. I do this by taking the time to sit and talk to the people who are impacted by wildlife to generate real-world solutions. As a conservation scientist, I believe we should always be asking the key question ‘How can people and wildlife coexist?’ In 2016, I realised that to establish practices which affect real conservation results in time frames that address challenges before they become irretrievable, conservationists need to be more innovative, flexible and collaborative in their approach than we have traditionally been. My solution to this was to become an independent ecological consultant, able to work where and when I was required and, crucially, with all stakeholders and not just the ones my views were aligned with and in 2017 I started LRC Wildlife Conservation. In November 2020 I became the Dean for the School of Wildlife Conservation at the African Leadership University based in Kigali, Rwanda. As Dean, I am responsible for designing and implementing the School’s academic curriculum for undergraduate, MBA, and professional development programmes. Strengthening the faculty team and providing academic leadership for the School’s growing student body. The ALU School of Wildlife Conservation is an initiative of the African Leadership Group established to catalyse innovation and growth in Africa’s conservation sector. This is because we recognise Wildlife Conservation as one of Africa’s great opportunities and competitive advantages. We see the sector’s potential to drive sustainable ecological and economic development on the continent.