Researchers

Dr. Dorothy Wanja, Coordinator KENWEB/Head of Ichthyology, National Museums of Kenya

Wanja attained a Bachelor of Science (Zoology) and Master of Science in Hydrobiology from the University of Nairobi in 1998 and 2002 respectively. Thereafter, she studied at the University of Montpellier 2 where she earned a Masters (2004) and PhD (2007) from the department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Her studies focus has been the morphological and genetic variations of the Nile tilapia in Africa. She has an interest in freshwater fish diversity and conservation in Kenya. 

 

 

Dr. Mordecai Ogada, Executive Director Conservation Solutions Afrika

Dr. Mordecai Ogada is a carnivore ecologist who has been involved in conservation work for the last 15 years in Kenya and other parts of Africa, mainly on human-wildlife conflict mitigation and carnivore conservation. His biological work include studies on Lions, Hyenas, cheetah, African Wild dog and otters. Dr. Ogada’s professional work has included research and teaching but has mainly been in the area of community based conservation, wildlife policy and wetlands ecology.  From 2009-2011 Dr. Ogada developed cheetah conservation strategies for Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Uganda as the regional coordinator for WCS cheetah conservation program. He is currently the Executive Director of Conservation Solutions Afrika where he focuses on the perceptions of conservation and how these influence communities and practitioners in the field of natural resource management.

 

Dr. Douglas McCauley, Postdoctoral Fellow UC Berkeley/KENWEB Researcher

Douglas did his PhD at Stanford University (Biology) studying how large aquatic consumers shape community and ecosystem ecology. Currently he is a NSF Postdoctoral Fellow researching how the common hippopotamus influences nutrient regimes and food web structure in East African watersheds and understanding how changes to regional water resources will influence the ecology of this vulnerable species. The research is undertaken with collaboration with colleagues in KENWEB, UC Berkeley, University of Nairobi, Princeton University, National Museums of Kenya, and the Kenya Wildlife Service.

 

Professor Nathan Gichuki, Professor of Animal Ecology and Environmental Studies in the School of Biological Sciences of the University of Nairobi.

Nathan Gichuki is a Professor of Animal Ecology and Environmental Studies in the School of Biological Sciences of the University of Nairobi. He has a Bachelor of Science Honours degree in Botany and Zoology and Master of Science degree in Conservation Biology from the University  of Nairobi, and PhD degree from Cambridge University, U.K. He coordinates Open and Distance Education Programme and mentors postgraduate students in areas of ecology, environment and in project planning and management. His main area of research focus is in the functional responses of animals to environmental variability, especially the relationship between stream water quality, aquatic invertebrates and birds. Nathan is a member international professional organizations and has worn a number of academic awards. He is founder member of KENWEB and mentors postgraduate student interns in his area of interest and links them to learning and research resources in national and international research institutions and universities.

Dr. Stéphanie Duvail, Researcher at the French Institute of Research for Development (IRD)

Stéphanie Duvail is a researcher at the French Institute of Research for Development (IRD). She holds a PhD in Geography from the University of Strasbourg (2001). Her research deals with wetland management with a focus on the impacts of large dams and the potential of managed flood releases for sustaining ecosystems and livelihoods. She has experience in West Africa (Senegal and Mauritania), North Africa (Tunisia, Morocco) and East Africa (Tanzania and Kenya).

 

Dr. Olivier Hamerlynck

Olivier Hamerlynck is an ecologist (and a medical doctor) who for the past 18 years has been working in Africa on ecosystem service delivery for human well-being by river systems, with a particular emphasis on their fisheries and dam issues. He has been involved in valuation and restoration of dam-impacted systems in the Senegal Delta, Pangani and Rufiji rivers in Tanzania, Tana Delta in Kenya and Lake Faguibine in Mali. As a consultant he has worked mainly with the IUCN, UNEP, UNESCO, GEF-WorldBank. He is Special Adviser on Wetlands for IUCN’s Commission on Ecosystem Management and for the Indigenous and Community Conserved Areas Consortium (ICCA).  

 

Quentin Luke, Botanical Research Scientist, National Museums of Kenya

Quentin studied at Pembroke College, Oxford.  He has been associated with NMK since 1987 and is an Honorary Associate of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. He has worked in many areas of Kenya including the coastal forests, the Kaya forests, the Chyulu Hills, and the northern mountains.  He has collected and studied plants in many countries of Africa including Tanzania, Uganda, DRC, Sudan, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Mali, Bioko, and Sierra Leone.

 

 

Prof. Henry L. Bart Jr., Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Tulane University

Henry L. “Hank” Bart, Jr.is Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Tulane University, Director of the Tulane University Biodiversity Research Institute, and Curator of the Royal D. Suttkus Fish Collection. A New Orleans native, Bart earned Bachelor’s (1979) and Master of Science (1981) degrees from University of New Orleans, and a Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Oklahoma (1985).  He held faculty positions at the University of Illinois and Auburn University prior to joining Tulane University in 1992.  His area of research specialization is ecology and systematics of freshwater fishes. He is also actively involved in biodiversity informatics research and actively promotes new uses of natural history specimens and specimen data in research.  

 

Dr. Steven Bouillon, Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences, KULeuven, Belgium

Steven has worked at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, the Netherlands Institute for Ecology (Centre for Estuarine and Marine Ecology), and is now based at KU Leuven in Belgium. His research focuses on understanding the biogeochemical functioning of tropical rivers, lakes and estuaries, interactions between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and foodwebs in aquatic environments. Past and current study sites in Kenya include Gazi Bay, the Sabaki River catchment, and the Tana River basin and delta. 

 

 

Dr. Paolo Paron, Senior Lecturer at UNESCO-IHE

Paolo has a background in earth science (MSc in geology, 2000 and PhD in geomorphology, 2005) and has specialised in combining field and Remote Sensing/GIS data collection and analysis. In March 2011 he joined the Dept of Water Science & Engineering at UNESCO-IHE where his main interests are in multi-temporal reconstruction of fluvial environments combining historical aerial photography, satellite and field data. Here he is developing Kite Aerial Photography and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle photography for low-cost, high-resolution, high-portability mapping. From 2005 to early 2011 he was based in Nairobi, Kenya, working as an independent consultant for a variety of international humanitarian organizations and private companies. He has carried out extensive field work in Somalia, Ghana, Kenya, and also in Australia, Italy and UK.

 

Dr. Judith Nyunja , Head of Wetlands Programme, Kenya Wildlife Service

Nyunja holds a Doctoral Degree in Zoology with specialization in marine ecology and resource management; Master’s Degree in Hydrobiology; and a Bachelor’s Degree in Biological Sciences (zoology, botany and chemistry). Her area of specialization include: Research on water resources, fisheries, wetland ecology, biodiversity and management; socio-economics and natural resource utilization;   community based climate change adaptation; environmental policy formulation and analysis; development of integrated ecosystem based management plans; transboundary natural resource management issues; and, capacity building.

 

Benard Opaa, Wetlands Officer at National Environment Management Authority (NEMA)-Kenya

Mr Benard Opaa is a socio-ecologist who has been working on sustainable wetlands and Integrated Water Resources management (IWRM), capacity building, policy and action-oriented research. He has over 10 years experience in Community-Based alternative and Sustainable Livelihood Approaches (SLA).  Mr. Opaa has guided the development and finalization of the National Wetlands Policy, spearheaded the development and monitoring of implementation of site-based wetland management plans using Ecosystem Based Management (EBM) Approaches, supervised the first ever Gender Audit for Climate Change Governance in Kenya and development of the first Kenya Wetlands Atlas. Additionally, Mr Opaa spearheaded the development and final production of Kenya’s Wetlands Assessment and Monitoring Strategy and is the Coordinator of the national-level World Wetlands Day (WWD) commemorations. He is currently focusing on environmental governance, policy analysis and development, sustainable development and building resilient communities and ecosystems in the face of climate change.

 

Dr. Erustus Kanga, Head of Biodiversity Research and Monitoring, Kenya Wildlife Service.

Dr. Kanga is an ecologist with research interests in environmental conservation and management, the ecology and conservation of tropical forests, savannahs, wetlands and threatened species therein, with emphasis on links between species and ecosystems integrity, with focus on anthropogenic interactions, climate change vulnerability assessments and mappings. Dr. Kanga's professional work includes wildlife research in the area of wildlife population dynamics and community processes. Dr. Kanga is passionate about hippopotamus, a species that was the focus of his PhD.

 

Mr. Cyrus Mageria

Works for Ministry of Environment, Water and Natural Resources as an Assistant Director-Multilateral Environmental
Agreements: Currently working on the areas of International Environmental Governance and Environmental sustainability in the Context of sustainable development and poverty alleviation.

 

 

Dr. George G. Ndiritu, Researcher at Wetlands and Marine Section, National Museums of Kenya

Dr George G. Ndiritu is a landscape ecologist and works at Wetlands and Marine Section in the National Museums of Kenya. He holds a B.Sc. in Natural Resources Management from the Egerton University, M.Sc. in Ecological Marine Management from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Ph.D. in Environmental Dynamics from the University of Arkansas. His research work is pragmatic and considers all aspects of wetland and landscape biodiversity, including the human wellbeing. George was the leader for a team of experts contracted to develop the Kenya’s Wetlands Assessment and Monitoring Strategy. Also he was a lead expert for a team of scientists contracted to undertake biodiversity surveys in anthropogenic dominated landscapes. He is an adjunct lecture of water related course in a local university and mentors both undergraduate and post graduate students.

 

Dr. Fredrick Tamooh, Research Scientist at the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS).

Dr Tamooh holds a PhD in the field of Applied Biological Sciences from KU Leuven, Belgium. He also holdsa Master of Science and Bachelor of Science degrees in Natural Resource Management from Egerton University, Kenya. His main research interests are in terrestrial-aquatic interactions, particularly the biogeochemical functioning of rivers. His main research work including his PhD has focused on Tana River and Athi River Basins in Kenya. He has also been actively involved in mangrove intertidal research in Gazi bay, South Coast of Kenya. He is currently overseeing wetlands programme at Kenya Wildlife Service.

 

Eng. Dr. Sean Avery, Independent Consultant, Kenya

Sean Avery is a civil engineer with over 30 years professional consultancy experience throughout Africa, the Indian Ocean Islands, and the Middle East.  He is specialised in water resources, hydrology and the environment.  He wrote the booklet "What future Lake Turkana? The impact of hydropower and irrigation development on the world's largest desert lake?" (University of Oxford, 2013), and he has written papers on the Turkana aquifer finds and on the challenges of irrigating the drylands.  He is an Honorary Visiting Fellow in the Department of Geography of the University of Leicester.

 

 

Dr. Ray C. Schmidt

Ray is broadly interested in patterns of evolution and diversity of African freshwater fishes. He received a Bachelor’s degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences from South Dakota State University (2005) and Master’s in Biology from Texas A&M - Corpus Christi (2008). His PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Tulane University (2014) investigated the historical biogeography of fishes from the upper Guinean forest and surrounding areas in West Africa. In addition to his work in West Africa, Ray has been studying the biodiversity of Kenyan fishes since 2010. He is currently the Smithsonian Mpala Postdoctoral Fellow, focusing his research on fish community structure and the ongoing effects of development projects in the upper Ewaso Nyiro Catchment.