Staff, Students & Associates

Conservation Biology Masters Students (2010/11)

Masumi Gudka

Email: masumi.gudka@uct.ac.za

Born and raised in Kenya, Masumi has been a wildlife enthusiast from an early age and endeavoured to become a conservation biologist since finishing high school.  It is important to her to see significant changes to the current pattern of habitat and species loss in East Africa and to be a part of that change. After graduating from the University of East Anglia (UK) with a BSc Hons in Ecology, she attended the Tropical Biology Association in Kenya in 2006. Thereafter she was an intern at Haller Park in Mombasa, studying the behaviour of two captive hippos upon introduction to each other. She also participated in a course on ecological restoration run by Princeton University. From here she moved to Nairobi to work for WildlifeDirect, an organisation created by Dr Richard Leakey.  As Conservation Programs Officer, Masumi facilitated and managed workshops for conservation organisations throughout East Africa, ran campaigns and participated in conservation initiatives. Most recently she researched the illegal trade in lion parts looking at the Amboseli/Tsavo ecosystem and the trade route along the Kenyan coast.

Mini-thesis

The effects of pesticides on the breeding success and population of African Fish Eagles at Lake Naivasha, Kenya (Supervisors: Rob Simmons, Peter Ryan). Graduated June 2012