Field Team of the LuiKotale Bonobo Project

I am a primatologist and a behaviourist with a love of photography. I have previously been a research assistant in Sumatra, Indonesia, that examined the connectivity of the forest outside of the Leuser Gunung National Park. That facilitates the movement of orang-utans from/to the private lands and back to the national park. I studied animal behaviour at the University of Chester in the United Kingdom.

I have worked as animal caretaker for several years in Bolivia and Peru where I was engaged in a rehabilitation programs of wild animal species including their repatriation into natural habitats. I participated in daily data collection from released Spider monkeys in the Amazon forest. In this context I developed a passion for nonhuman primates, their behavior and lifestyle and ability to adapt to novel environments. Since April 2024, I am part of LuiKotale research team and take this as an opportunity to enhance my knowledge about wild primates and the skills and techniques of data collection.

I finished my bachelor thesis with a project focused on the reintroduction of Woolly monkeys in Colombia. This gave me the interest of continuing to work with primates. Following this, I worked as a research coordinator for a project focused on the conservation of Brown-headed spider monkeys in Ecuador. This year I started as a research assistant in the habitation project of bonobos.

I studied Zoology and Environmental Science at North Carolina State University, with my main research interests centered on conservation and human-wildlife conflict mitigation. I have previously worked in primate husbandry as a zookeeper in the US, and on the Belize Jaguar Project, utilizing camera monitoring for long-term occupany modeling and population study.

After a bachelor degree in biology, I did my first 6-month voluntary service at CCC (Centre de Conservation pour Chimpanzée). Passionate about primates, I continued to get involved in their conservation, and after a year of master degree in ethology, I left for 4 months in Amazonia to study woolly monkeys and spider monkeys. My passion for Great Apes brought me back to CCC in 2028, where I stayed for 8 months as volunteer manager. Since November 2023, I am in charge of the Luikotale and Ekongo field camp as a camp and research administrator.

I graduated in political philosophy and anthropology in Paris and then specialized in social practices for welcoming refugees and migrant people at the university of Bologna. In 2019, I joined the LKBP as a camp and research administrator. Following my first appointment, I returned to LuiKotale as a special envoy for film teams and journalists and for conducting conservation oriented campaigns in the villages. In 2023, I participated in a project that evaluates the sustainability of traditional hunting by villagers. Being part of a research team that combines scientific research, nature conservation, intercultural relationships, and economic development offers I am able to contribute my academic expertise, social skills and satisfy my ambition to consider the needs of wild animals and plants together with the requirements of traditional human societies.

I finished my master degree in Behavioural Ecology, in which I conducted research on captive chimpanzees, gorillas and golden-bellied mangabeys. After this, I followed my great fascination for primate behaviour, ecology and conservation. I conducted behavioural research on wild spider monkeys in a fragmented forest in Ecuador. Currently, I am pursuing the habituation of the bonobos in the Ekongo forest.