Collaborators

Dr. Dunsin Bolaji has been studying African manatees in Nigeria since 2008. He graduated with his PhD in fisheries from the University of Lagos and works for the Nigerian Institute for Oceanography and Marine Research. He led a project for former manatee hunters at Lekki Lagoon that taught them catfish aquaculture as an alternative livelihood, and he is part of the team assessing all threats […]

Pascal is focusing on conservation of the African manatee and human-manatee conflict in the southern periphery of Korup National Park as well as in the Douala region of Cameroon. He has identified several new fish species consumed by manatees, and he is documenting net destruction by manatees, as well as hunting. Pascal graduated from the University of Dschang with his Master’s degree in Fall 2016

Uzoma Ejimadu is a PhD student at the University of Lagos studying African manatees in coastal lagoons near Lagos, as well as skull morphometrics. He began his research on the species in 2007 and is part of the team assessing all threats to African manatees throughout Nigeria.

Dr. Edem Eniang is a professor at the University of Uyo in southeastern Nigeria, as well as the Director of the non-profit Biodiversity Preservation Center. He is a herpetologist and has also been studying the African manatee since 2008. Edem is part of the team assessing all threats to African manatees throughout Nigeria. He and Lucy Keith-Diagne co-chair the Subgroup for the African Manatee of

Sarah is a PhD student in George Mason University’s environmental science and public policy program and Dr. Lucy Keith-Diagne serves on her academic committee. Her dissertation research focuses on testing new technologies including aerial and underwater drones and side-scanning sonar in marine and freshwater manatee habitats in Senegal and Nigeria, as well as mapping threats to the African manatee in Nigeria using a free software,

Pearson received his B.S. from Texas A&M University in 2017 and is a recent graduate of the University of Georgia where he received his M.S. under the mentorship of Dr. Tracey Tuberville. His graduate studies focused on the effectiveness of head-starting as a recovery tool for the threatened Mojave desert tortoise, spending nearly 2 years in the Mojave National Preserve in southern California, USA. Since

Dawda Saine has been studying African manatees in The Gambia since 2012 and received training in manatee necropsies at the FWC Marine Mammal Pathobiology Laboratory in Florida. He is currently leading manatee threat assessments for The Gambia.

After completing his Bachelor and Master’s degrees at the University of Dschang, Cameroon, Aristide received a Fulbright Scholarship towards his doctorate at the University of Florida. He graduated in 2019 and his doctoral research focused on the genetic diversity, diet, and habitat quality of the African manatee in the downstream of the Sanaga River watershed, Cameroon. Aristide is also the founder and director of the