Hall Of Fame

Besides the guy in the Dos Equis commercials, Abdullahi Hussein Ali might be the most interesting man in the world (we're biased, of course!). Fluent in four languages, Ali was born to a household of 13 brothers and sisters on the Kenya-Somali border. At the age of eight, he first set foot in a permanent structure, a schoolhouse that his uncle--then the Chief of General Staff of the Kenya Defence Forces--built with funds from the president as a reward for suppressing a military coup.

Ali's dissertation focused on the range collapse, demography, and conservation of hirola, a critically endangered antelope confined to a swath of unprotected land in eastern Kenya.

Current position: Director and Founder, Hirola Conservation Programme

Adam "AKA All Terrain, AKA Aboot Toque, AKA Alcohol-Tobacco-Firearms" Ford completed a Liber Ero postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Guelph, before joining the faculty at the University of British Columbia Okanagan as a Canada Research Chair.

We have many fond and unusual memories of Adam. These include, but are not limited to, a Hazzard county-esque chase ending unceremoniously with bout of pink eye, and a tense situation involving a dying rabbit call, a leopard, and an unspeakable amount of mud. He will be missed mightily, and we don't mean perhaps.

Current position: Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Restoration Ecology, University of British Columbia Okanagan

Alois "Ali" Wambua worked both as the small mammal fundi for the UHURU experiment and the Mammalogy Section at the National Museums of Kenya. His work was funded by the Kenya National Commission for Science, Technology, and Innovation and the U.S. National Science Foundation, and he is now pursuing an MSc at the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences. His involvement with UHURU rounded out our research group's triumvirate of high-quality Ali's.

Current position: Research Assistant, Pride of Meru Programme

Amos Muthee Kibara worked as the lead technician for Ali's field work on hirola conservation in Ijara, Kenya. He joined our group from the Mount Kenya Conservancy where he helped manage a captive breeding program for highland bongos. We are glad Amos sacrificed personal comfort to trade the balmy foothills of Mount Kenya for the blistering heat of Ijara for this work! He continues to serve as coordinator of field conservation for the Hirola Conservation Program.

After a year-long stint at the Ipassa Research Center in Gabon, Brandon Hays (left) wore many hats: big-headed ant project manager, UHURU small-mammal trapper, Fulbright scholar, and professional handler of Drs. Goheen, Riginos, Palmer, and Pietrek. He officially joined our group in Spring 2018, and wrote a bang-up thesis on the demography of mutualism breakdown in Laikipia.

Brandon cut his teeth on Morris and Doak's demographic modeling book, and quickly gained some madd skillz in said techniques. In addition, we will never forget the near-collison between land rovers KAW (Rutherford), driven by Brandon at a top speed of 2km/hr, and KBG (Dookie), push-started at a top speed of 3km/hr.

Current position: PhD Student, Duke University

Brendan "AKA Husky, AKA Boatesy" Oates recently completed a top-notch thesis, co-advised by Matt Kauffman and Jake, disentangling predation from bottom-up factors (drought and fire) in driving anti-predator behavior and vital rates of Shiras moose (Alces alces shirasi).

Brendan will be remembered fondly for his rigourous approach to wildlife ecology, passion for fieldwork, killer garlic bread, and formidable beard. He and Jake share an inordinate, borderline creepy fondness for Pearl Jam, and Rogue One.

Current position: Biologist, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife

Co-advised by Matt Kauffman and Jake, Brett "AKA Beej" Jesmer defended his dissertation in Fall 2018. Recently, he commenced postdoctoral studies at the Max Planck-Yale Center for Biodiversity, Movement, and Global Change, then started a job at Virginia Tech in 2021. Brett's dissertation focused on resource limitation, population dynamics, migration, and darned near everything else about moose throughout the Intermountain West.

From dust-ups with the authories on Lake Naivasha to emergency sprints into the Hoback Basin bush, Brett will forever occupy a unique space not only in our heads, but in our hearts as well.

Current position: Assistant Professor, Virginia Tech University

Bridget Conneely earned her MSc with Jake through the University of British Columbia in 2011. Through the Gorongosa Restoration Project, Bridget worked to understand the influence of fire on resource selection by buffalo and wildebeest recently reintroduced to Gorongosa National Park.

Current position: Director, Educational Media, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

In 2020, Britt "AKA BTB" Brito completed a bang-up thesis on occupancy and diet specialization of the Wyoming pocket gopher, one of North America's most restricted and rarest rodents.

Britt is a superfan of the Green Bay Packers, and other mammals great and small. Enduring Jake for three courses during her undergraduate bestowed Britt with the patience and tenacity necessary to endure the Tatooine-esque landscapes of Wyoming's Red Desert.

Current position: Biologist, Wyoming Game and Fish Department

In 2017, Caroline Chebet Ng'weno earned a dual doctorate in Zoology and Hartebeest Whispering. Currently the Deputy Director of Ecological Monitoring at Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Caroline completed a dissertation that was at once conceptually interesting and relevant to the conservation of lions and wild ungulates within Laikipia.

In addition to all of *that*, Caroline spearheaded Earthwatch expeditions, established an outreach program for Samburu women interested in livestock production alongside conservation, and became a black belt in R throughout the course of her dissertation work. And she didn't even bat an eye during the Great Aardvark Rodeo of '07.

Current position: Director of Science, Nature Kenya

Cate Lonyangaita was a valuable member of Team UHURU, coming to us from Dr. Steve's wildlife vet crew at Ol Pejeta Conservancy.

Ceicil Otieno conducted his student attachment with us from the Kenya Institute of Surveying and Mapping. Under the wise tutelage of George Aike, Ceicil worked to tile, mosaic, georeference, and classify over 400 aerial photos of Mpala and neighboring ranches in Laikipia.

Christian Bopp (right) worked with Caroline on Ol Pejeta Conservancy to characterize the determinants of lion kill-sites. In this photo, Christian is simulating the role of a poacher (who typically wear oversized puffy blue coveralls), thereby enticing a special forces dog to gnaw on his arm.

Current position: MSc Student, Northern Arizona University

Clint Atkinson worked with us as a technician on the statewide moose project. From humble beginnings sorting moose kidneys under the watchful eye of Brett Jesmer, he now works in the enviable position of large carnivore biologist for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department out of Lander, Wyoming. Way to go Clint; mind those ursids.

Current position: MSc Student, University of California Berkeley

Corinna Riginos is a staff scientist for The Nature Conservancy in Lander, managing the KLEE experiment, working as an environmental consultant, and rapidly becoming the state's go-to expert on deer-vehicle collisions (all while raising two super-adorable kids). Despite working as a postdoctoral associate in our group for a tragically short period of time, we often claim credit for her professional success in the company of folks who don’t know any better.

Current position: Director of Science, The Nature Conservancy Wyoming Chapter