PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
ECOLOGICAL CONSULTANT,
LRC WILDLIFE CONSERVATION
April 2017 - Present
SPEAKER & PANELLIST
Wildlife Technology Online Conference 2020, Workshop: 'Using Technology To Monitor African Wildlife Remotely: Challenges & Solutions.'
Career Ecologists Online Conference 2020, Panel Discussion: Exploring ways of successfully collaborating with others to improve our ecology work. In this session we discuss collaborations between individuals, teams, companies and other disciplines.
Adventure Travel Show 2020, Discover African Theatre, Speaker: 'How to conserve Africa's wildlife through your travel choices.'
RESEARCH AFFILIATE - NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NAMIBIA
January 2020 - Present
THE NAMIBIAN LEOPARD: NATIONAL CENSUS & SUSTAINABLE HUNTING PRACTICES
This project took a multi-disciplinary approach, inside national parks and outside in communal and commercial farmland, by combining ecological methodologies and social science to understand the pressures on, and status of, the leopard population across Namibia.
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Designed, implemented and completed national leopard census project, three themes;
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Density and distribution
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Human-leopard conflict
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Sustainable utilisation
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Successfully secured funding for project
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Collaborations with multiple stakeholder groups - farming, hunting, conservancies, government, corporations, communities, private and academic.
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Results from project incorporated into:
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Namibia’s Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species Non-detriment findings report
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The IUCN Red Data Book for Namibian Carnivores as lead author for the leopard chapter
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The joint CITES-CMS Roadmap for Conservation of Leopard in Africa report
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ECOLOGICAL AND COMMUNITY BASED RESEARCH MANAGER, CHEETAH CONSERVATION FUND, NAMIBIA
November 2014 - April 2017
Responsible for coordinating all aspects of the Cheetah Conservation Fund's ecology and community based research. These projects vary from; community capacity building and training projects, human-wildlife conflict cases and mapping, citizen science, landscape and spatial ecology and biodiversity monitoring. I undertook data analysis, producing scientific publications, research proposals and grant applications as well as managing CCF staff and interns with project design and implementation. I worked with multiple stakeholder groups from different sectors; farming, hunting, conservancies, government, corporations, communities, private and academic.
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Awarded Go Green Fund (NNF/Ned Bank 2015) for 3 year carnivore landscape project
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Manger of black rhino custodianship project and long-term monitoring programme
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Awarded 2 WCN Internship grants (2015/6)
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Funded 60 new camera traps and other equipment
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Developed Carnivore Tracker mobile App. – engaged multiple corporate sponsorship
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Co-author on chapters of the upcoming book on a global review of cheetah research (40 years).
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Recruited and managed a team
SECRETARIAT, GREATER WATERBERG LANDSCAPE, NAMIBIA
July 2016 - April 2017
The landscape committee is made up of multiple stakeholder members; commercial, communal, re-settled and affirmative action farmers and the Waterberg Plateau National Park, Ministry of Environment and Tourism. I was responsible for administration and organisation of the committee in relation to meetings, documentation and communications.
PROJECT MANAGER & FOUNDING PARTNER, CONSERVATIONFIT, GLOBAL
May 2016 - August 2017
Founding partner and project manager of ConservationFIT. My work was integral to the collaboration of WildTrack, the developer of the footprint identification technique (FIT), with the American Zoo and Aquarium association (AZA) in order for baseline prints of African, South American and Asian carnivores to be collected in AZA accredited zoos. This non-invasive and indirect method of monitoring is applicable to the target species covered in this role and can be an excellent addition to in-situ field research organisations current ecological tool kit.
CREATOR & PROJECT MANAGER, CARNIVORE TRACKER APP., NAMIBIA
January 2015 - December 2017
I am the creator of the Carnivore Tracker App. which is designed for anyone to easily record their wild sightings for carnivore species found in Namibia. I teamed up with a software developer to bring the App. to life. As project manager we continue to work together to develop new features. I conceptualised, developed and managed this new initiative, which has required me to take a leadership role in a collaborative environment. The initiative is a new mobile App. called Carnivore Tracker, the first of its kind here in Namibia. Carnivore Tracker’s purpose is to collect large volumes of real time presence data for 33 carnivore species across Namibia. To ensure the App’s success, I have engaged with numerous stakeholders which include; the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, Namibian Tourism Board and Air Namibia as well as multiple lodge owners and tour operators. I have pitched, written project proposals, used social media, published articles, undertaken radio interviews, and gathered support for this project under the banner of the Large Carnivore Management Association of Namibia (LCMAN). I also formed a partnership with the EIS Carnivore Atlas as such all data from the App. gets uploaded on a regular basis to be an open source for different stakeholder groups for the benefit of carnivore conservation across Namibia.
REMOTE CAMERA TRAPPING, COURSE LEADER, RGS-IBG, LONDON, UK
March 2012 - February 2014
Co-organising and running of, three, one day camera trapping workshops at the RGS-IBG. The aim of the workshop was to provide a theoretical and practical overview of camera trapping. My role was to prepare and present specific aspects of camera trapping methods and analysis to the students and researchers. I provided advice, hints and tips to the participants based upon my personal experiences from my camera trapping research for 4 years in South Africa.
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Part of the first RGS-IBG comprehensive Camera Trapping Research Manual.
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Royal Geographical Society Fellow
SCIENTIFIC TEAM LEADER, EARTHWATCH INSTITUTE, SOUTH AFRICA
January 2009 - August 2012
Leading a team of volunteers undertaking scientific research on brown hyaena abundance in the North West Province, South Africa. The overall aim was to ensure that the volunteers acquired new skills through training and an overall understanding of the conservation value of the research not only at the field sites but in the wider landscape. To ensure all the activities were fun and engaging whilst being completed with accuracy and efficiency within a safe environment.
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All international flights covered by the Earthwatch Institute
REMOTE CAMERA TRAPPING WORKSHOP LEADER, NOTTINGHAM TRENT UNIVERSITY, UK
March - July 2012
I designed and implemented a practical and classroom based camera trapping workshop for visiting school children aged between 12 and 17. The aim was to introduce the topic and set it in context to species conservation using my own brown hyaena research project as an example.
DEMONSTRATOR AND SUBSTITUTE LECTURER, NOTTINGHAM TRENT UNIVERSITY, UK
October 2011 - March 2012
Supervising groups of students undertaking practicals and lectures on topics such as research design and statistical analysis using various software packages.
LIVE, ONLINE INTERACTIVE CARNIVORE EXPERT FOR 'HIPPO: NATURE'S WILD FEAST', CHANNEL 4, UK
November 2011
Observing real time footage from the Channel 4 hippo carcass camera and providing expert commentary and answering questions from the public via social media. The aim was to simply explain the animal activity the public could see taking place live, paying particular attention to carnivores but not exclusively.
BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE WORKSHOP LEADER, EXPLORE, RGS-IBG, LONDON, UK
November 2011
I was invited by the Royal Geographical Society to be part of the biological science workshop panel at the 2011 "explore" weekend which was designed to give inspiration to students wanting to undertake research projects and adventurous travel. My specialism on the panel was to provide technical and logistical information on how to design, develop and undertake projects in the savannah biome to the participants based on my own research experiences.
PROJECT CO-ORDINATOR, TRAFFIC INTERNATIONAL, CAMBRIDGE, UK
March - October 2008
Providing administration support for regional Traffic offices when needed as well as for multi-regional projects. This included organising the administration set up for new projects and ensuring that all offices met their required deadlines (financial/update reports) both internally and external for donors/partners. Other tasks undertaken were; donor liaison, creating and updating financial reports, management of project finances and contract management of external partners/consultants.
PROGRAMME ASSISTANT - PROTECTED AREA PROGRAMME, UNEP-WCMC, CAMBRIDGE, UK
April - October 2007
Working on a variety of projects within the Protected Areas Programme and other Programmes within the Centre.
Duties included:
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Writing technical papers and preparing presentations for international conferences.
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Researching and compiling briefs covering all aspects of protected areas.
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Monitoring and updating the Programme’s budget.
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Re-developing and updating the Programme’s website.
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Updating and editing the World Database on Protected Areas and contact databases.
PHOTOGRAPHIC RESEARCHER, SIREN CONSERVATION EDUCATION, CAMBRIDGE, UK
February - March 2007
Tasked with sourcing wild dog photographs and permissions from photographers. The photographs were used in a conservation education book aimed at raising awareness for children in both Zimbabwe and the UK.
GIS ASSISTANT, BIRDLIFE INTERNATIONAL, CAMBRIDGE, UK
October 2006 - March 2007
Digitising global species range maps using ESRI ArcMap to include resident, breeding and non-breeding sites, and converting them into thumbnail .gif files in preparation for a Dorling Kindersley publication in 2007. Editing habitat categories in the World Bird Database, as well as investigating invasive threats relating to Red List species.