Position: Graduate Student
DPhil Thesis:
The impacts of ecosystem change on human and wildlife health:
1) the bushmeat trade and disease emergence
2) disturbance, stress and disease in chimpanzees
Background:
I graduated from the University of Toronto in 2003 with a H.BSc. in biology and environmental studies. I have long been fascinated by the interaction between the human and the natural worlds, and the impact of this complex relationship on wildlife populations. As an undergraduate, a variety of research projects allowed me to explore different aspects of conservation. In 2001, supported by a grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), I investigated the use of lake habitat by fish in Northern Ontario. Since habitat loss is a principal factor contributing to the decline of freshwater species, this research may help conservation efforts. In 2002, I conducted a study project at the Wanariset Orangutan Reintroduction Programme in Balikpapan, Indonesia. During a two-month period, I documented rehabilitant orangutan foraging techniques to help better understand orangutan learning processes. At the same time I sought to work directly with communities struggling to balance environment with development. In 2000, I participated in World Literacy of Canada Youth Overseas Programme in India. My mandate was to conduct an environmental assessment of urban slums in Varanasi. Later that year, I assisted the Canadian Great Ape Alliance with a study of cultural attitudes among Cameroonian children towards gorillas and the bushmeat trade. During this time, I also worked with a primate sanctuary in Cameroon designing an educational program about the bushmeat trade.
These experiences left me with as many questions as answers about the complex dynamic between the human and the natural worlds. From 2003-2005, supported by the Rhodes Scholarship, I pursued an M.Phil. in Development Studies at the University of Oxford, in order to gain a better understanding of social and economic development process that affects conservation. In my M.Phil. thesis I explore an issue linked to the bushmeat trade: the emergence of zoonoses, such as Ebola and HIV, passed from primates to humans.
I am currently assisting the United Nations Environment Report with the preparation of the Fourth Global Environmental Outlook.
Research Description:
My research broadly explores the impact of anthropogenic changes to the environment on the health and fitness of human and wildlife populations in Uganda. One branch of my research explores diseases risks to human from the bushmeat trade in Uganda. The ultimate goal of this project is to identify mechanisms by which the bushmeat trade contributes to the emergence of zoonoses. During my lifetime, the world has witnessed the emergence of previously unknown diseases, particularly zoonoses passed from animals to humans, including HIV, SARS, and Avian Flu. Understanding of zoonoses is critical both for global public health and for conservation. The hunting of wild animals, particularly primates, in Central Africa has been linked to variety of emerging disease including Ebola, monkey pox and possibly HIV. While it is clear that the bushmeat trade poses disease risks, understanding the nature of these risks, and of how they evolve, is far from complete.
A second branch of my research explores the impact of environmental change and human disturbance on stress in chimpanzee, Pan troglodytes, communities in Budongo Forest Uganda. Past research indicated that heightened levels of stress can lead to disease. Studies of stress within animal populations are important as they can be used to indicate selection pressures acting within a population. Does human environmental disturbance, have an impact on stress levels in animal populations either directly or indirectly through impacts on social interactions? Do changes in stress levels have an impact on long term fitness? Answers to these questions are critical. As human populations continue to grow, greater pressure is placed on the environment and wildlife. Elevated stress levels may negatively impact the health and viability of the endangered populations, jeopardizing conservation efforts. The project will compare the level of glucocorticoids in the urine and feces of several groups of wild ranging chimpanzees of Budongo Forest against a variety of variables and explore the impact of elevated cortisol levels on fitness.
Research will take place in collaboration with a variety of groups including researchers at the Robert Koch Institute, the Max-Planck Institute and St. Andrews University. My doctoral study is supported by the Commonwealth Scholarship.
