Holly O’Donnell
Alumni
I joined WildCRU in 2017 as a Diploma “Panther” student. Since then I have been working on an internship for Dr Andrew Loveridge, processing camera trap images of spotted and brown hyaena from the Trans-Kalahari Predator Programme.
My field background is in South America. Firstly, an internship in Paraguay with small mammals where I spent seven months looking at population dynamics of mouse opossums in Atlantic forest, and rodent species diversity post-burn in Cerrado (savannah) habitat.
I then spent two years working for an NGO in the Madre de Dios region of the Peruvian Amazon, which has been recognised as the most biodiverse area on the planet. I led daily line transect surveys and deployed camera traps for rapid assessment surveys and baseline data collection of medium and large mammals in previously unstudied and remote areas. I learned to track large mammals and spent considerable time observing primates.
Seasonally I return to the Las Piedras river as an Expedition Guide for Tamandua Expeditions, working mainly with large mammals and reptiles. This summer I took part in an exciting research expedition searching for giant anacondas.
I have wide interests, ranging from small and large mammals to reptiles. I have a particular interest in little known and understudied species, such as the Short-eared Dog and the Maned Wolf. At heart, I love exploration and I thrive from the challenges that come with living in deep rainforest.
I hope in the near future to pursue a DPhil to develop skills which I can apply on the ground to contribute to conserving the incredible biodiversity of the areas I am so passionate about.
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© Vinh Pham