Douglas Kamaru (PhD student, UW)

I was brought up in a village on the northern shores of Lake Naivasha; this gave me an opportunity to experience the magnificent of nature, including hippos and bird diversity. These ignited my love for wildlife.

I pursued a course in wildlife management with the Kenya Wildlife Service Training Institute, and later earned a diploma in Tourism and Wildlife Management at the University of Eldoret, and a Bachelor of Science in Natural Resource from the Karatina University. In 2018, I was awarded a scholarship by the University of Oxford to pursue post-graduate studies in International Wildlife Conservation Practice at their Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WILDCRU).

I am thrilled by anything related to predator-prey dynamics, human-predator interactions, and spatial ecology of large carnivores. My plans entail building strength in each of my research interests, as well as establishing collaborative work among peers and mentors, thus helping build my capacity as a scientist.

My MSc work focused on understanding how elephant browsing and an invasive ant are changing tree cover, thereby affecting predator-prey dynamics at Ol Pejeta Conservancy. My PhD work is focused on the demography and conservation of lions in Tsavo National Park.