Scholarship Program

Caroline Nkamunu Patita is planning to use her scholarship to pursue an MPhil in Conservation Leadership at the University of Cambridge. She is a Masaai community leader, and she has already played a key role in creating innovative programs to reduce and mitigate human-wildlife conflict, to support resilient co-existence, and to combat climate change. After earning her degree, Caroline’s goal is to create a network of Indigenous communities to build capacity to access resources and technical support to improve community-based conservation, livelihoods, and biodiversity protection through new financing models, such as carbon credits. She intends to frame her work around the conservation of giraffe, collecting data to inform the giraffe national conservation strategy. She firmly believes that sharing incentives with communities will lead to increasing land under conservation and in turn increase giraffe population and slowing the rate of extinction. Nominated by Dr. Paula Kahumbu of WildlifeDirect (Whitley Award recipient).

Awarded the Pat J. Miller Scholarship

Location: Kenya
University: University of Cambridge

Devavrat Pawar will use his scholarship to complete his PhD at the University of Wageningen in the Netherlands, which he began in 2020. With a particular focus on tigers, Devavrat’s research investigates the mechanisms that enable ungulates and large carnivores to successfully utilize resources within habitats that have been disturbed by humans. Ultimately, this knowledge will help us better understand co-adaptation of humans and large mammals, refine wildlife estimation methodologies, highlight the importance of communities in wildlife conservation, and contribute to strategic conservation planning. In the longer term, Devavrat hopes to contribute to building conservation programs that help reconcile goals of wildlife conservation and sustainable development. He plans to focus his work in India’s human-dominated landscapes in the Terai (the foothills of the Himalayas) and beyond, where several million people co-occur with or live in proximity to wildlife. Nominated by Dr. Pranav Chanchani of WWFIndia.

Awarded the WCN Scholarship

Location: India
University: University of Wageningen in the Netherlands

Esther Nosazeogie is planning to use her scholarship to undertake a PhD at Stony Brook University. Esther has been the volunteer communications manager at SMACON-Africa (Small Mammal Conservation Organization, who joined WCN at the Fall 2021 Virtual Expo) and is currently a research officer at the Nigerian Institute for Oceanography and Marine Research. For her doctoral studies, she intends to study the feeding ecology of seabirds in the coastal and offshore waters in Nigeria. She will then use this data to determine priority sites for at-sea conservation of seabirds, especially the endangered Cape Gannet, as well as to contribute to the sustainable management of local fisheries. She hopes to engage local fishers as citizen scientists to collect data on Nigerian seabirds – data for which has not been updated since the 1970s. Her goal is to work with local coastal communities, policymakers, conservation nonprofits like BirdLife to develop the first-ever action plan for the conservation of coastal/marine birds in Nigeria, especially those species that are endangered. Nominated by Dr. Iroro Tanshi of the University of Benin (Whitley Award winner).

Awarded the WCN Scholarship

Location: Nigeria
University: Stony Brook University

Francis Lopeyok Charles Lenantiri plans to use his scholarship to pursue a master’s degree at Kenyatta University, focusing on the influence of community-based conservation on community empowerment and using the community conservancies of northern Kenya as case studies. He was born and raised in the Lekurruki community conservancy in northern Kenya and wants to work to drive conservation forward as his community’s key economy and livelihood practice. After completing his degree, Francis plans to continue to work for the Northern Rangelands Trust to spearhead water programs across communities in northern and eastern Kenya, with a focus on water for people, livestock, and wildlife, especially the northern black rhino and elephant. His ultiamte goals will be to develop functioning water infrastructure across member conservancies for schools, clinics, villages, livestock, and wildlife, and to have functioning conservancy water governance. Nominated by Dr. Kieran Avery of the Northern Rangelands Trust (Tusk-supported conservationist).

Awarded the Handsel Scholarship

Location: Kenya
University: Kenyatta University

Guadalupe Verta will use her scholarship to pursue a PhD at the University of California, Berkeley, focusing on developing approaches that integrate biological and social science disciplines to answer questions related to human wildlife coexistence and to the reduction of human impacts on ecosystems, such as resource extraction, introduction of new species, and climate change. In particular, she plans to explore the impact of fences on ungulate movement and landscape connectivity, using ecological and social science tools for the conservation of large mammals on private lands – which is especially critical in Patagonia, where the vast majority of the land is privately owned – and informing management decisions with interdisciplinary science. She will focus her research on the Andean cat, southern viscacha, and cougar, though her work will impact many wildlife species across Patagonia. Nominated by Dr. Andres Novaro of WCS Argentina.

Awarded the Plum Foundation Scholarship

Location: Argentina
University: University of California, Berkeley

Guilherme Alvarenga will use his scholarship towards the completion of his doctoral degree at the University of Oxford. He is working to develop the first empirical landscape assessment of jaguar population connectivity across the entire geographical range of the species, with the goals of a) producing a large-scale analysis of jaguar habitat use throughout the species’ distribution, determining what regions are and will be impacted by anthropogenic activities, and b) at a local scale, characterizing human-carnivore interactions and developing strategies to support the implementation of ecological corridors for jaguars in partnership with local communities. He expects his PhD outcomes to drive political and field-based conservation actions, and he aims to participate actively in those, while also ensuring that local communities continue to have a voice. Nominated by Dr. Carlos Durigan of WCS Brazil.

Awarded the Sidney Byers Scholarship

Location: Brazil
University: University of Oxford

Kevin Lunzalu will use his scholarship to complete his master’s in Coastal Science & Policy at UC Santa Cruz. His research is centered on the interlink between marine pollution and sea turtle hatchling populations along the Kenyan Coast. He is analyzing the impact of marine plastics on the nesting percentage of three sea turtle species that have been documented to nest on Diani Beach, a popular tourist destination in Kenya: green sea turtles, hawksbill sea turtles, and olive ridley sea turtles. Recent studies point towards the fact that eggs may represent the most vulnerable stage for sea turtles since their survival is dependent on several external environmental factors, and increased accumulation of microplastics in nesting sites could significantly reduce hatching success. After completing his degree, Kevin plans to work with WCS, the Kwale County government, beach management units, tourism companies, hoteliers, and local communities on a long-term project to safeguard insitu nesting sites from microplastics, marine debris, and other development-related stressors. Nominated by Dr. Nyawira Muthiga, the director of WCS Kenya’s Marine Program.

Awarded the Sidney Byers Scholarship

Location: Kenya
University: University of California, Santa Cruz

Lucas Mendes Barreto plans to use his scholarship to pursue a PhD at the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais in Brazil, focusing on conservation of the giant armadillo in the Atlantic Forest in the Parque Estadual do Rio Doce, Minas Gerais, Brazil. He plans to examine strategies to maintain viable populations and meta populations and to evaluate the consequences of isolation and fragmentation of rare, large mammals that occur at low density, using the giant armadillo as a case study. In the longer term, Lucas’ goal is to implement an extensive ecological corridor, in partnership with local communities, between the strips of habitat fragments of the Atlantic Forest to increase the carrying capacity and ensure a viable population of giant armadillos and other wildlife. Nominated by Dr. Arnaud Desbiez of the Wild Animal Conservation Institute (Whitley Award recipient).

Awarded the Sidney Byers Scholarship

Location: Brazil
University: Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais in Brazil

María Elena Carbajal will use her scholarship to complete her master’s in sociology at the University of Barcelona. Her thesis project focuses on analyzing the social and cultural habits that lead people to buy and sell wild animals or their body parts, with a particular focus on Andean bears and jaguars. Through qualitative interviews and ethnographic research in Peru’s primary markets and hotspots of sale, she will identify the main demand trends and propose social, communicative and legal strategies to reduce them. In addition to generating scientific data, her goal is to produce and documentary and accompanying website to reach and wider audience and encourage citizens themselves to contribute to reducing this crime. Her longer term goal is to understand the social dynamics behind the main environmental crises and illegal activities in order to work to modify behaviors. Nominated by Dr. Mariana Montoya of WCS Peru.

Awarded the WCN-WCS Joint Scholarship

Location: Peru
University: University of Barcelona

Muhammad Asif will be using his scholarship to pursue a master’s in statistical ecology at University of St Andrews, focusing his research on snow leopard population and conflict dynamics, with an aim to apply his knowledge to snow leopard conservation in his hometown of Gilgit Baltistan, Pakistan through the Snow Leopard Trust’s Pakistan Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Program. Pakistan itself has a dearth of conservation scientists, and without reliable data on wildlife species, conservation is ineffective. This degree will allow Asif to bridge the gap in his own knowledge between biology and statistics and apply these skills to wildlife conservation in his home country, where it is sorely needed. Following his degree, he plans to conduct robust population estimates in his home region and to work with local communities on alternative livelihood opportunities so there is less reliance on livestock for income generation. Nominated by Dr. Charudutt Mishra of the International Snow Leopard Trust (Whitley Award recipient).

Awarded a Sydney Byers Scholarship

Location: Pakistan
University: University of St Andrews

Nelson Mwangi Gathuku will be using his scholarship to complete his PhD at Colorado State University. The focus of his dissertation is the drivers of elephant space use in a changing landscape – he is looking at what factors influence this (environmental, elephant herd structure, and human), with the goal being to use that data to inform landscape planning, mitigate human-elephant conflict, and ensure human-elephant coexistence across a changing landscape in Kenya and a broader Africa. After finishing his doctoral program, Nelson plans to continue working with Save the Elephants, using the findings from his degree to implement the protection of key corridors and elephant use areas across the ecosystem in cooperation with local governments and communities. Nominated by Frank Pope of Save the Elephants.

Awarded the Sidney Byers Scholarship

Location: Kenya
University: Colorado State University

Pallabi Chakraborty is planning to use her scholarship to pursue a PhD at the University of Florida, focusing on understanding ecological and anthropogenic drivers of human–elephant conflict in the Kodagu landscape of Karnataka, India, with the goal of ultimately reducing the negative impacts of conflict on both local communities and elephants. She plans to continue working in this landscape after the completion of her degree, doing community-based conservation to mitigate human-wildlife conflict. Her aim to to conduct conservation education, training, and engagement activities for village leaders, coffee and tea estate workers, farmers, school teachers, women, school children, and front-line forest staff. She also hopes to be able to offer mental health counseling services to those who have had traumatic and stressful encounters with elephants, in order to help them recover. Nominated by Dr. Purnima Barman of Aaranyak (Whitley Award recipient).

Awarded the WCN Scholarship

Location: India
University: University of Florida

Prince Pascal Agro is planning to use his scholarship to pursue his PhD at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. He plans to focus his dissertation on population dynamics and the use of local conservation agreements to conserve populations and habitats of two pangolin species, the white-bellied pangolin and the black-bellied pangolin, in the Asukese Forest in Ghana. Pascal has already started his own NGO, Alliance for Pangolin Conservation, Ghana, and he plans to use the results of his PhD to engage and encourage forest fringe communities to collaboratively structure and adopt local conservation agreements (bylaws) to address wildlife-related misconducts at the community level, and to work with national and local wildlife authorities to develop and implement an action plan for the species. Nominated by Prof. Edward Debrah Wiafe, PhD, of the University of Environment and Sustainable Development in Ghana.

Awarded the Sydney Byers Scholarship

Location: Ghana
University: Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology

Rochelle Mphetlhe will be using her scholarship to complete her master’s program at the University of Cape Town. Her research aims to quantify the changes in abundance of raptor species in northern Botswana in recent years, with a particular focus on vultures, which are the most endangered of all raptor species in Botswana. Threats to raptor species include scavenging on poison-laced carcasses – both from farmers who poison carcasses of livestock they have lost to predators, and from poachers who poison carcasses of species such as elephants, to stop raptors from alerting wildlife authorities to their illegal activities. Rochelle’s goals are to continue filling gaps in data and knowledge related to raptor conservation, teach communities about the value of raptors, and to work with farmers on non-lethal methods of dealing with problematic predators. Nominated by Dr. Glyn Maude of Kalahari Research & Conservation Botswana (Rufford Foundation funding recipient).

Awarded the Sydney Byers Scholarship

Location: Botswana
University: University of Cape Town