Kipunji Team

Biographies

From left to right: Daniela W. De Luca, Noah E. Mpunga, Tim R.B. Davenport, Sophy J. Machaga

Tim R.B. Davenport is the Director of the Wildlife Conservation Society's Southern Highlands Conservation Program (SHCP) in southwest Tanzania, and Director of their Southern Rift Program (SRP) in Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique. He was born in Manchester, UK and received a BSc in zoology and a PhD in parasitology from the University of Leeds. He has since lived in three African countries, including Uganda where he worked for the Forest Department, Makerere University and Uganda National Parks, and Cameroon where he ran conservation projects for WWF. He has worked in over 70 African forests and been involved in the designation of new national parks on both sides of the continent. He has written almost a hundred papers, reports and popular articles on subjects ranging from national conservation priorities to invertebrate ecology, and from the orchid trade to chimpanzee distributions. His photographs have also been widely published. Tim joined WCS and moved to Tanzania in 1999. There he set up and directs the SHCP and SRP, programs which carry out research, community conservation and protected area management in threatened habitats across the region.

Noah E. Mpunga was born in Dar-es-Salaam and comes from Mahenge in south central Tanzania. He took early schooling in Morogoro and graduated from the University of Dar-es-Salaam with a BSc in Wildlife Ecology.  Noah has carried out research in many of Tanzania's national parks including the Serengeti, Mikumi and Saadani.  He joined WCS in 2002 to work on the Carnivores of the Rift Project across the Udzungwa Mountains. He currently works on carnivore ecology, hunting studies, biodiversity research and community conservation projects across the region as part of the SHCP.

Sophy J. Machaga was born in the Usambara Mts of north east Tanzania. Having grown up next to Amani Forest Reserve, she has long had an interest in wildlife and began her career working as a field assistant in the Usambara Ecological Monitoring Project. Sophy has a BSc in Wildlife Ecology & Zoology from the University of  Dar-es-Salaam. She has worked on the Earthwatch Fellowship Program, the Frontier Kilombero Management Project, and the Newcastle Univ. Expedition to the Eastern Arc Corridors. Sophy joined the SHCP in January 2003 and leads a variety of research and conservation projects.

Daniela W. De Luca is the Senior Scientist of the Wildlife Conservation Society's Southern Highlands Conservation Program in Tanzania, and scientific advisor to their Southern Rift Program in Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique. She was born in Rome, Italy and received a Laurea (Masters) degree in zoology and wildlife ecology and management from the University of Rome. As part of her research, she set up the Banded Mongoose Research Project in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda. She returned to Uganda to get a PhD in behavioural ecology with the University of London and the Institute of the Zoological Society of London, UK. Daniela has also studied flamingos and wild horses in the Camargue, France, run biology field courses in Ventotene, Italy, and censused elephants and carried out natural resource inventories in Uganda. In 1999 she moved to Tanzania to manage a large conservation and development project around Lake Rukwa, before joining WCS to carry out research and conservation, especially of carnivore, across the Southern Rift.