I am a research student within WildCRU looking at crocodilian conservation, with a particular focus on the gharial (Gavialis gangeticus).  My aim is to collect spatial and reproductive ecology data on the gharial to inform Nepal’s ongoing conservation efforts on the species.  I am also looking at the evaluation of head-starting as a conservation strategy in both Nepalese gharial and crocodilians more generally.

My undergraduate degree was in Biological Sciences at Oxford.  In 2014 I conducted a project as a research intern with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama investigating variation in insect seed predation across a tropical forest rainfall gradient. I have an MSc Wild Animal Biology from the Royal Veterinary College and Zoological Society London.  My research was looking at dietary partitioning in grey and black flying-foxes along the Australian east coast. During my Masters I was a volunteer at the London Zoo Reptile House, confirming that herpetological conservation, especially of crocodiles, was what I wanted to conduct future research in.

Before I joined WildCRU I conducted a research internship in South Africa, which gave me the opportunity to work with a wide range of species, from pangolin to leopard to freshwater invertebrates, and experience the day-to-day realities of conservation.

I joined WildCRU in 2018, supported by Oxford University’s NERC-funded Doctoral Training Partnership in Environmental Research.  I am a member of the IUCN Species Survival Commission Crocodile Specialist Group.