Wildlife & Conservation Guest Speakers

Shivani was born and grew up in East Africa, spending much of her spare time in the National Parks.  Once she finished her Environmental Science degree at Lancaster University, she returned to Kenya where she worked as an Educator and Wildlife Biologist for the Kenya Wildlife Service at the Nairobi orphanage, as well as looking after orphaned wildlife including cheetah cubs.  

She spent 4 years working on the Save the Elephants project in Samburu (founded by Iain Douglas-Hamilton in 1993), working in the field and with local schools & students on environmental and wildlife awareness programs.  

During this time, she developed a passion for lions and carried out a much-needed study on the lions of Samburu for her Masters degree. Her research provided the baseline population information for lions in the area.  She is now completing her PhD and is studying the lions in the fragile ecosystems of Shaba, Samburu, Buffalo Springs National Reserves and their surrounding areas.  Here she is researching lion ecology with the aim of determining what survival issues they face, including human-induced impacts and possible solutions.

John Lemon MSc.
Painted Dog Expert
Curator, Perth Zoo, Australia.

John Lemon was born in Australia and his love for animals became apparent at an early age.  John worked at the famous Western Plains Zoo west of Sydney for 13 years, specialising in African Carnivores and Primates.

John's love affair with Painted Dogs deepened when he was awarded a NSW Zoo Friends Fellowship in 2000, enabling him to work on the Painted Dog Project in Zimbabwe.  Dedicated to saving the Dogs and acutely aware of their plight, he returned to Zimbabwe to continue his work the following year.  He left the Zoo and spent the next 2 years in Zimbabwe, during which time he completed the largest rehabilitation holding facility for Painted Dogs in the world.  He has rescued & rehabilitated Painted Dogs from lethal snares, conducted local community education and awareness raising, as well as leading anti-poaching teams.

John has gained an intimate knowledge of these magnificent animals after working with them over many years.  He now brings his considerable knowledge to Tanzania, last refuge of Africa's largest packs of Painted Dogs.

The CS Wildlife Fund and John are currently working together to establish a Painted Dog Conservation Project in Tanzania.  The project aims to conduct a Painted Dog population census, snare removal and monitoring program, as well as conduct local community education and awareness activities.

Jasson John MSc., BSc.
Ornithologist
Bird Conservation Officer, WCST

Jasson John holds a Masters degree in Wildlife Ecology (majoring in avifauna ecology) and a B. Sc in Wildlife Management, and several on-the job certificates in biodiversity conservation.  He has over 5 years experience in natural resource management and research in flora and fauna with specialty in birds.  As a Bird Conservation Officer at Wildlife Conservation Society of Tanzania (WCST), a BirdLife International partner in Tanzania, Jasson has been at the center stage in bird conservation in Tanzania and conducting field activities in several Important Bird Areas of Tanzania.  He is currently the focal person for the biodiversity database of the Eastern Arc and Coastal Forests of Tanzania and Kenya, a project funded by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership (CEPF).  He is coordinating and conducting several field projects in the Eastern Arc and Coastal Forests hotspot(s).  Jasson joined the Wildlife Conservation Society late 2004 after he had finished a two year contract with the MacArthur Biodiversity (Monitoring the East Usambara Forests) Project at the University of Dar es Salaam.

Jasson is a national coordinator for species action plan programme by Birdlife International and he has been involved in developing and editing several species action plans for birds such as the International Action Plan for the endangered Spotted Ground Thrush, Zoothera guttata.

For more information about WCST visit the website: www.wcstonline.org