Jennifer joined WildCRU as a PhD student in 2022, supported by the NERC Doctoral Training Partnership in Environmental Research and Linacre College’s EPA Cephalosporin Scholarship. Her PhD is in partnership with ZSL’s Institute of Zoology and is supervised by Prof Rosie Woodroffe, Prof Amy Dickman, Prof Christl Donnelly, and Dr Daniella Rabaiotti.

Jennifer’s research aims to assess the potential impacts of climate change on the endangered African wild dog (Lycaon pictus). She uses a combination of spatial, behavioural, and physiological data—sourced from remote sensing, accelerometer collars, and thermal data loggers—to investigate the effects of climate at both continental and individual scales. Her fieldwork has taken place in the Kalahari and KwaZulu-Natal regions of South Africa, where she has worked with the Endangered Wildlife Trust, local wildlife authorities, and reserve management teams. Alongside her PhD, she has contributed to range-wide mapping efforts for African wild dogs, supporting both the most recent IUCN Red List assessment and the Regional Action Plan for North, West, and Central Africa.

Jennifer graduated with a BSc in Biology from the University of Bristol in 2017. She then spent many months in the South African bushveld with the Dwarf Mongoose Research Project in Limpopo, first as a Research Assistant and later as Project Manager. This work focused on the long-term monitoring of the species’ behavioural ecology—along with a substantial amount of mongoose and people management!

In 2020, Jennifer completed an MRes in Biodiversity, Evolution and Conservation at University College London, receiving a Distinction along with the Best Student Award and Dean’s List Award for outstanding academic achievement. Her first MRes research project investigated the impacts of human and livestock encroachment on bat activity in the Maasai Mara. Her second project focused on range-wide distribution modelling of African wild dogs, carried out under supervision from ZSL, which ultimately led to her DPhil research. Before joining the NERC DTP in 2021, Jennifer worked as a consultant to the Bat Conservation Trust, analysing audio data from the island of Jersey.