After graduating from my BSc Zoology, I am keen to get involved in conservation policy, particularly to transition to my masters in Biodiversity, Conservation and Management. Having watched ‘Big Cat Diaries’ as a kid, I had a fascination for large carnivores and particularly felids! As part of my undergraduate degree, I pursued this interest with full force, travelling to Kenya to collect data for my dissertation, ‘The Conservancy Effect in Panthera leo in Naboisho Conservancy, Kenya’. My research examined the influence of pastoralism on African lion distribution, suggesting significant impacts both directly and indirectly on local fauna. It became apparent, however, that human-wildlife conflict is not a one-sided issue and rather one that requires mitigation evaluating conservation impacts for all parties, despite it possibly interfering with personal morals. Having learnt the pivotal role society plays in creating sustainable and effective conservation change, I became interested in policy and local empowerment in wildlife conservation. Through this internship, I hope to better understand the integral role trophy hunting plays in local society, specifically through situational analyses, to help better inform trophy hunting policy. I am very excited to be interning at WildCRU and look forward to meeting many of you!

I will also be undertaking research in Bob Montgomery’s lab as part of my masters, so please do reach out if we will be seeing a lot of each other in the coming year!