2013

I grew up in the Russian Far East in a remote city of the Primorsky region. I graduated from Far Easten State University as Bachelor of Arts in Biology in 2008. During my studies I researched salmon morphometry and caryology at the Marine Biology Institute. At my summer internships I moved to Kamchatka to the Azabach’e reserve for data collection. In 2010 I began work as a field assistant with the Siberian Tiger Project (collaborate project of Wildlife Conservation Society and Russian Academy of Science).

I am specializing on the use of GPS-collars to study Amur tiger prey selection. I am planning to use this field work as a basis for graduate studies, and hope to focus on developing an energy model for tigers.  I have also taken part in collecting survey data on Amur tigers as part of the Amur Tiger Monitoring Program. I have assisted on a variety of conservation projects led by WCS, including work on the endangered Far Eastern leopards, studying brown bear ecology and conservation on Sakhalin Island, and studying the ecology of musk deer using radio collars.

The diploma course for me is a great chance that will give me a greater knowledge and practice in use of new methods which will assist me after finishing the program to continue my conservation research.