Research Group

Ali has worked with our research group for over 20 years. He is the consummate natural historian, with encyclopedic knowledge of darned near every critter--flora and fauna--on the UHURU project. Ali is absolutely essential to keeping our projects in Laikipia running smoothly while we're across the pond.

Growing up visiting my parents' childhood homes in South Africa meant visiting the incredible wildlife in Pilanesberg National Park. The respect I gained for the interconnectedness of this ecosystem and effects of predators in that landscape cultivated my love for the natural world.

I work on a spectacular species! I would be offended if someone doesn’t love the African wild dogs. Although I’m not new to the Laikipia landscape, I only came to know of the wild dogs 10 years ago. Since then, my passion for conserving this species has never faded.

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.

Douglas' website (The Pride of Tsavo Conservation Area)

A master multitasker, Gilbert Busienei has worked with our research group as a fundi on small mammals and, more recently, big-headed ants, trees, and elephants. Here, on a chilly morning, he holds a four-toed hedgehog, one of the least-commonly sampled mammals in our UHURU plots.

I am a lucky fellow because I get paid to do what I love to do. I am an academic generalist and I try hard to be a conservation biologist, community ecologist, and mammalogist simultaneously. I am interested in both applied issues and basic questions in ecology. Through my research and that of our group, I try to understand how species interactions can inform wildlife conservation and management.

My love for wildlife stemmed from the documentaries I watched while I was in middle school. I come from a community where farming is one of the most popular ways of generating income. Growing up in this environment, I developed an interest in wildlife because I wanted to experience and understand wildlife in the real world, rather than only through documentaries.

Going into undergrad, I had no idea that my passion for nature could become my career. I was fortunate to have mentors that pushed me to explore my interests and broaden my ecological background, cementing my love for wildlife. Participation in research projects and summer fieldwork led me to develop interests in carnivore ecology, habitat fragmentation, and non-invasive sampling techniques.

I am interested in the processes that maintain ecological patterns and species assemblages. Thus, my interests span population, community, evolutionary, and conservation ecology. My research uses molecular biology, field experiments, and long-term demographic datasets to illuminate the drivers of ecological community dynamics.

Leo's website

I started my professional journey as a microbiology, fascinated by the tiny systems that keep life running. But over time, my curiosity pulled me out of the lab and into the wild. Thanks to Dr. Caroline Ng’weno and her Earthwatch project, I discovered a genuine passion for wildlife conservation. Making the shift felt natural—it allowed me to carry my scientific background into a space where I could contribute directly to protecting biodiversity.

I grew up in a small village in central Kenya. At the time, wildlife featured commonly in the forests near home, but as agriculture expanded and the forests were cleared, many of these animals disappeared. Watching this transformation inspired me to explore ways humans and wildlife can coexist.

Simon Lima (pictured here after a trying stint in Tsavo National Park) was an invaluable member of our research team between 2004 and 2015, and triumphantly returned in 2019 to assist with Dedan's work. He now works with Dik-dik Sam. He is a guru with GPS, wildlife captures, and radio-telemetry, and he can spot giraffes at over 500 km (pun intended, to be sure).