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Vanessa Hull, Assistant Professor
Vanessa received her B.S. in Animal Behavior (minor- Chinese) from Bucknell University and an M.S. and PhD in Fisheries and Wildlife from Michigan State University while working at the Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability. Vanessa is broadly interested in human-wildlife interactions in coupled human and natural systems. She seeks to find creative ways to bring together diverse disciplines to better understand and manage human-wildlife interactions around the world. Vanessa's Google scholar page |
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Martial Kiki, PhD student, Interdisciplinary Ecology
Martial received his B.S. in Environmental Conservation and M.S. in Biodiversity Conservation from the University of Abomey-Calavi in the Republic of Benin, in addition to a postgraduate diploma from WildCRU at the University of Oxford. Martial is the recipient of a Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Graduate Scholarship and Sidney Byers Scholarship for Wildlife Conservation via the Wildlife Conservation Network (WCN). He is passionate about the research and conservation of large predators in West Africa. For his PhD work, Martial will examine transboundary interactions between lions, livestock, and pastoralists in the W-Arly-Pendjari (WAP) complex that spans Benin, Burkina Faso, and Niger. Martial is co-advised by Dr. Madan Oli. |
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Christian Rivera, PhD student, Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
Christian earned his B.A. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Princeton University, with minors in East Asian Studies, Environmental Studies, and Latin American Studies. Christian’s undergraduate thesis used population viability analysis to understand the impacts of illegal hunting on the white-lipped peccary population in Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica. He then earned his M.A. in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology from Columbia University in the City of New York, where he used a systemic and multidisciplinary approach to study the social and ecological dimensions of a highly acclaimed turtle management program in the Peruvian Amazon. Throughout his studies at Columbia University Christian held a research assistantship at the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation at the American Museum of Natural History, where he assisted with projects focused on the conservation of biological, cultural, and linguistic diversity. He is passionate about research on endangered species conservation, wildlife trade and hunting issues, social-ecological systems, and biocultural diversity and conservation. |
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Xiaoxing Bian, PhD student, Interdisciplinary Ecology
Xiaoxing earned her B.S. in Biology from Beijing Forestry University and M.S. in Ecology from Beijing Normal University. Her Masters research examined behavioral responses of male giant pandas to conspecific odor stimuli. She has worked for the Wildlife Conservation Society for six years in Tibet, China and is the recipient of a competitive Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Graduate Scholarship. She is passionate about snow leopard conservation and habitat preservation. Her PhD research will examine interactions between snow leopards and human activities in the Qiangtang National Nature Reserve, Tibet, China. Xiaoxing is co-advised by Dr. Madan Oli. |
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Viviana Rojas-Bonzi (Vivi), PhD student, Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
Vivi is a biologist from Paraguay who graduated from the Universidad Nacional de Asunción. Vivi was awarded with the Fulbright scholarship to pursue a Masters degree in the Molecular Ecology Lab at University of Florida working with Dr James Austin. Her Masters research focused on small mammal (rodent) dispersal in sub-saharan Africa, where she worked in Swaziland at the Savannah Research Centre. Vivi returned to her country and worked in several conservation projects led by a national NGO and soon after she became the Species Conservation Program Coordinator. She has been awarded the BECAL Paraguay, WEC and TCD scholarships to pursue her PhD in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation with a concentration in Tropical Conservation and Development. She is now looking forward to incorporating more interdisciplinary approaches to link her research to conservation practice and decision making. She will be working in the Paraguayan Chaco forest, a deforestation hot-spot, looking to better understand medium and large mammals interactions, their role in shaping the ecosystem and use this information to inform decision making in this human-wildlife system. Vivi will be co-advised by Dr. Lyn Branch. |
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Dominic Mayo, undergraduate student, Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
Dominic is an undergraduate student at the University of Florida, who is majoring in Wildlife Ecology & Conservation and Anthropology with a minor in International Studies. He is also a Florida Georgia LS Alliance Program Scholar. Dominic is interested in large mammal ecology, evolutionary biology, and primatology. He is also passionate about the wildlife trade and conservation. He is conducting research on the social-ecological systems that affect primate biodiversity. |