2011

I am a carnivore researcher with Wildlife Conservation Society Uganda. Having completed my B.Sc. Conservation Biology at Makerere University in 2006, I went on to intern with Uganda Wildlife Authority-a body which manages wildlife in Uganda, Nature Uganda-The Birdlife partner of East African Natural History Society and ECOTRUST Uganda. In addition to this, I taught Biology and Chemistry in secondary schools before joining WCS in late 2007.

I was at the core of the team conducting the first systematic national census of hyenas and lions in Uganda. This was carried out between 2008 and 2009 and all major carnivore habitats where surveyed. The results were used in drafting the 2010 – 2020 national carnivore action plan.

My focus has been on 4 prides of Lion and understand the likely effect of oil exploration activity on the fauna of Murchison falls national park. A socio-economic survey of the communities living in close proximity of the park has also been conducted with the aim of informing the policy makers about wildlife resource use by the communities.

This postgraduate diploma at WildCRU, Oxford University, is timely and will enable me contribute more towards carnivore conservation in Uganda. I look forward to one day looking into the ‘mystical’ cheetahs that roam the Kidepo valley but have yet to be caught on camera. The wild dogs are equally unstudied in Uganda after a management error that saw their extermination. I hope to continue my training with the possibility of enrolling into a Masters degree and thereafter, a Doctor of philosophy.

Diploma Projects

• Perceptions and Solutions to Human-wildlife Conflict in and Around Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda

• Lion (Panthera leo) Space Utilization in the Oil Exploration Region of Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda