Scholarship Program

Peter Abanyam

Peter Abanyam

Peter Abanayam of Nigeria, nominated by Andrew Dunn, Country Director for WCS Nigeria. Peter’s current master’s work focuses on incorporating the Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool (SMART) into the Greater Gola Landscape Strategy in Sierra Leone. He plans to use the skills developed through his MPhil in Conservation Leadership at the University of Cambridge to help protect Cross River gorillas, slender-snouted crocodiles, Preuss’ red colobus monkeys, Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzees, and forest elephants back home in Nigeria once he completes his degree, focusing on engaging local residents in community-based conservation initiatives.

He is a recipient of the Sydney Byers Scholarship for his work with cross river gorillas, slender-snouted crocodiles, Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzees, and elephants.

Location: Nigeria
University: University of Cambridge

Learn more about Peter’s work here.

Muktar Abute

Muktar Abute

Muktar Abute of Ethiopia, nominated by Dr. Jorgelina Marino of the Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Programme. Muktar is one of the two recipients of the veterinary-track scholarship. He is currently the EWCP Veterinary Team Leader, in charge of planning domestic dog annual vaccines and leading reactive wolf vaccination interventions. He will be pursuing an MSc at Addis Ababa University in Veterinary Microbiology, focusing on deepening his knowledge of virus transmission and the safe handling of pathogens in order to be able to better treat Ethiopian wolves and better respond to the threats of rabies and canine distemper.

He is a recipient of the WCN Veterinary-track scholarship.

Location: Ethiopia
University: Addis Ababa University in Veterinary Microbiology

Learn more about Muktar’s work here.

Damber Bista

Damber Bista

Damber Bista of Nepal, nominated by Brian Williams of the Red Panda Network (WCN affiliate). Damber is currently working on his PhD at the University of Queensland, focusing on the ecology and conservation of red pandas in human-dominated landscapes in Nepal. The overall aim of his work is to improve understanding on how red pandas interact in human-dominated landscapes and assess their population viability in fragmented landscapes in Nepal. He plans to return to working at the Red Panda Network following the completion of his degree to focus on expanding community-based conservation initiatives to other countries in the red panda’s range – not only Nepal, but also Bhutan, India, and Myanmar.

He is a recipient of the Handsel Scholarship for his work with red pandas.

Location: Nepal
University: University of Queensland

Learn more about Damber’s work here.

Melissa Micaela Arias Goetschel

Melissa Micaela Arias Goetschel

Melissa Micaela Arias Goetschel of Ecuador (the first WCN Scholar from Ecuador), nominated by Dr. E.J. Milner Guilland of the Saiga Conservation Alliance. Melissa is currently working on her PhD at the University of Oxford, studying illegal wildlife trade in Latin America and focusing on the jaguar, a species that was heavily hunted for its fur in the first three-quarters of the 20^th century, until CITES listed it in 1975. Four decades later, the trade is resurging with a market for jaguar body parts. Melissa’s PhD work aims to improve the knowledge on the characteristics, drivers, and potential impacts of the jaguar trade in Latin America, and to support decision-making to conserve jaguars going forward and bridge the research-implementation gap.

She is a recipient of the Pat J. Miller Scholarship for her work with jaguars.

Location: Ecuador
University: University of Oxford

Juan Carlos Huaranca

Juan Carlos Huaranca

Juan Carlos Huaranca of Bolivia, nominated by Andrés J. Novaro (Whitley Award winner and WCS Argentina Senior Conservation Fellow). Juan Carlos is also a member of the Andean Cat Alliance – his nomination was fully supported by AGA as well. He is pursuing his PhD through Universidad de Los Lagos, Chile, and his work focuses on evaluating the negative direct and indirect effects of camelid livestock grazing and associated human activities on the use of habits by the Andean cat and Pampas cat in the altiplano of the central Andes in Bolivia. After his PhD, he plans to develop a field conservation program for wildlife of the Bolivian highlands, focusing both on further research into threats and the implementation of practical solutions to help rural people coexist with wildlife.

He is a recipient of the Handsel Scholarship for his work with the Andean cat and Pampas cat.

Location: Bolivia
University: Universidad de Los Lagos, Chile

Teddy Mulenga Mukula

Teddy Mulenga Mukula

Teddy Mulenga Mukula of Zambia, nominated by Dr. Matthew S. Becker of the Zambia Carnivore Program (WCN affiliate). Teddy will be pursuing an MSc at Montana State University looking at the dynamics of and anthropogenic threats to a threatened cheetah population in the Greater Liuwa area of western Zambia – a trans-frontier ecosystem, where the country’s second-largest cheetah populations resides.

He is a recipient of the Handsel Scholarship for his work with cheetahs.

Location: Zambia
University: Montana State University

Thomas Mutonhori

Thomas Mutonhori

Thomas Mutonhori of Zimbabwe, nominated by Dr. Esther van der Meet and Peter Blinston of Painted Dog Conservation. Thomas will be pursuing an MPhil at the National University of Science and Technology (in Zimbabwe). He will be looking at human attitudes towards painted dogs and the potential for human-painted dog conflict surrounding the Mid-Zambezi protected areas – an area to which PDC has recently expanded their work – with the goal of significantly reducing carnivore mortality. Thomas is a former ranger with Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority who became involved with PDC and is now committed to their approach to conservation – he aims to continue working as a conservation researcher and to help in formulating community-based conservation programs for the Mid-Zambezi area.

He is a recipient of the Sydney Byers Scholarship for his work with painted dogs.

Location: Zimbabwe
University: National University of Science and Technology

Minh Nguyen

Minh Nguyen

Minh Nguyen of Vietnam, nominated by William Robichaud of the Saola Working Group (WCN Guest Speaker). Minh will be pursuing a PhD at the University of Florida, focusing on using behavioral movement data of the critically endangered large-antlered muntjac to improve conservation outcomes in southeast Asian protected areas while integrating the needs of local communities. Her goal is to develop and research community-based approaches to conservation and integrate these into protected area management plans. She is one of only a handful of women in Vietnam committed to working in conservation.

She is a recipient of the Sydney Byers Scholarship for her work with the large-antlered muntjac.

Location: Vietnam
University: University of Florida

Jean Ferus Niyomwungeri

Jean Ferus Niyomwungeri

Jean Ferus Niyomwungeri of Rwanda, nominated by Dr. Olivier Nsengimana of the Rwanda Wildlife Conservation Association (WCN Guest Speaker). Jean Ferus will be pursuing an MSc at the University of Rwanda. He plans to focus on monitoring the movement of the endangered grey crowned cranes within Rwanda and across borders and using this information to design better conservation strategies and actions to protect them. His longer term goal is to expand community-based conservation, focusing on how communities can benefit from ecosystem services, and to eventually succeed in getting the grey crowned crane removed from the endangered species list.

He is a recipient of the Sydney Byers Scholarship for his work with grey crowned cranes.

Location: Rwanda
University: University of Rwanda

Learn more about Jean’s work here.

Carmen Julia Quiroga Pacheco

Carmen Julia Quiroga Pacheco

Carmen Julia Quiroga Pacheco of Bolivia, nominated by Dr. Ximena Velez-Liendo (Whitley Award winner, currently with WildCRU Oxford). Julia is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Southeastern Norway, focusing her work on understanding the mechanisms of co-existence between Andean bears, pumas, and jaguars in the dry forests of the Boliviano-Tucumano ecoregion of Bolivia and using the information gathered to drive the development of effective community-based solutions for conservation.

She is a recipient of the Steven K. Beckendorf Scholarship for her work with Andean bears, pumas, and jaguars.

Location: Bolivia
University: University of Southeastern Norway

Learn more about Carmen’s work here.

Shashank Poudel

Shashank Poudel

Shashank Poudel of Nepal, nominated by Dr. Martin Gilbert of Cornell University. Shashank will be pursuing a PhD in Cornell University’s Department of Natural Resources, focusing on human-leopard conflict in Nepal. Currently, human-leopard conflict has led to extensive persecution of leopards in Nepal, and stringent efforts to curtail tiger poaching have made leopards more vulnerable from the perspective of illegal wildlife trade. He aims to focus his career on designing and implementing community-based interventions to reduce human-wildlife conflict in the South Asian context, with a particular emphasis on developing a citizen science network across different landscapes in Nepal to monitor human-big cat conflict.

He is a recipient of the Pat J. Miller Scholarship for his work with leopards.

Location: Nepal
University: Cornell University’s Department of Natural Resources

James Watuwa

James Watuwa

James Watuwa of Uganda, nominated by Dr. Simon T. Nampindo, Country Director for WCS Uganda. James is the second recipient of the veterinary-track scholarship this year. He is pursuing an MSc in Wildlife Health & Management (Wildlife Clinical Medicine track) at Makerere University Kampala, with a focus on looking at how oil exploration activities impact the parasite burden and stress levels of elephants in a fragmented vs. a continuous habitat (Murchison Falls Conservation Area vs. Queen Elizabeth National Park). With this degree, he aims to work in the greater east African region, where there are few wildlife veterinarians, offering care to elephants, lions, and other wildlife, including de-snaring activities, in Murchison Falls National Park, as well as helping to implement human-carnivore conflict mitigation around Queen Elizabeth National Park by leading the wildlife veterinary health component of the program.

He is a recipient of the WCN Veterinary-track scholarship.

Location: Uganda
University: Makerere University Kampala

Learn more about James’s work here.