Lucero Vaca Leon (2015)
Alumni Diploma Students
I was born in Mexico City in the central valleys of Mexico. I got my Bachelor’s degree in Biology from the Autonomous Metropolitan University (UAM) and did my dissertation on Jaguar food availability and local perceptions at Lacandona Rainforest, the largest remnant of High Perennial Rainforest in the country. During my dissertation research I started to collaborate at the Ecology Institute (UNAM) with the National Strategy for Jaguars.
I specialized in human-jaguars conflicts and am still doing projects related to jaguar conservation in Mexico. My interests in carnivore conservation are ecology and behaviour, especially with felids and canids, occupancy models and social factors associated with wildlife conservation. I know by taking the Diploma I have the opportunity to foster and develop my skills as a conservationist, and acquire new ones like project design, collection and analysis data, scientific writing, etc. For me this course will help me to increase the efforts in carnivore’s conservation and it would help me to increase my specialist network which will lead me to make international collaborations.