Eastern Africa Centre NTU Eastern Africa Centre (EAC) Fully Funded PhD at Distance studentship.
Ms Consolata Gitau Gathoni is a Postgraduate Researcher on the Eastern Africa Centre (EAC) Fully Funded PhD at Distance studentship.
This PhD project is on the use of acoustics to evaluate restored and degraded tropical savanna ecosystems in Africa. The aim is to explore the use of passive recordings as a monitoring tool by examining its ability to monitor and characterise community composition and diversity of key faunal taxa in a large-scale restoration project.
This project is set to be the first study to use passive acoustic monitoring to evaluate the effectiveness of restoration and gradient of land degradation in tropical savannah ecosystems in Africa.
This research aims to use multiple taxa (birds, bats, insects, reptiles) soundscape approaches to rapidly trace changes in fauna sounds and ecosystem conditions.
The project will take place in the Maasai Mara ecosystem, Kenya, which is an important bird and biodiversity area under threat due to land degradation, habitat fragmentation, and climate change, disrupting wildlife movement, reducing population sizes and increasing the risk of inflation.
Methodological approaches
In collaboration with the Center for Ecosystem Restoration Kenya (CER-K) and local institutions this research will establish a network of acoustic monitoring devices within active large-scale restoration projects. This network will be deployed to capture acoustic data in relation to a number of parameters that are likely to influence species/community composition (e.g., altitude, age of restoration plot, restoration plot vegetation composition).
Bats, amphibians, terrestrial invertebrates, and birds will be the key taxa studied, given that each of these groups can readily be monitored via acoustic monitoring and act as bioindicators of the health of ecosystems.
The acoustic data outputs will be compared to existing ecological/environmental datasets for the site to enable correlations to be investigated and the acoustic data to be placed in a wider context. Ultimately, this project will help to develop a long-term monitoring framework for restoration and rewilding projects more widely.
Grants, Awards and Conference Presentations
Grants
Earthwatch Neville Shulman Award 2024
Amount: £3000. It covers the cost of holding the community engagement meetings and a subsistence allowance for the community members who help with data collection.
Date: November 2024
Project Name: Community Engagement in the Use of Passive Acoustic Monitoring to Evaluate Restored and Degraded Tropical Savanna Ecosystem in Africa
Project Aim: To engage the local Maasai community in using bioacoustics to monitor ecosystem restoration efforts, fostering active participation and collaboration in biodiversity conservation, sustainable land management practices, and enhancing biodiversity conservation. Community engagement will include training them on using acoustic recorders and engaging them in data collection, analysis, and interpretation
Related Links:
Earthwatch 2024 Award - EAC News
Rufford Small Grant
Amount: £5940
Dates: 09/07/2024
Project name: Soundscape as a land degradation and ecosystem restoration monitoring tool in savannah ecosystems
Project aim: The project seeks to raise community awareness about restoration through conservation science education. We aim to train and engage the local community in acoustic data collection to build their capacity.
Bat Conservation International
Amount: $5000
Dates: 29/01/2024
Project name: Monitoring land degradation and ecosystem restoration using bats as bioindicators, in Northern Maasai Mara, Kenya
Project aim: This project proposes a multi-scale approach to assess if it is feasible to use bats as a proxy to assess the success of ecosystem restoration and monitor the ecological consequences of land degradation.
Idea Wild Equipment
Date: 11/06/2024
Funding for fieldwork equipment
Society for Conservation Biology Graduate Student Awards 2022
Amount: $1000
Dates: 18/11/2023
Project name: Use of soundscapes to monitor ecosystem restoration in Kenya
Project aim: This study aims to use Passive Acoustic monitoring to monitor multiple taxonomic soundscapes and assess how soundscapes can be used as an ecosystem restoration monitoring tool in Kenyan forest and savanna areas.
Awards
Award at the ARES Research Conference 2024
Consolata was awarded for 'Outstanding Student Achievement' at NTU, ARES. She received the award because of her contribution to conferences, STEM events, and being a great representative of women in STEM. Consolata also had a poster of her project displayed during the NTU conference.
Earthwatch Neville Shulman Award Winner 2024
Conference Presentations
Conference presentation at 4th African Bioacoustics Community Conference
Cape Town, South Africa, September 2024
Consolata presented a speed talk and poster on 'Use of passive acoustic monitoring to evaluate restored and degraded tropical savanna ecosystems in Africa.' She was also part of a student and expert special session on 'Navigating a career in bioacoustics.'.
Professional Networks and Volunteering
Consolata is actively involved in several professional networks including Women in Conservation Technology (WiCT) through Ol Pejeta TechLab, Fauna & Flora International (FFI), the WILDLABS and Conservation Leadership Program (CLP) Alumni Network, and the Society for Conservation Biology (SCB). In addition, I volunteer with Kijabe Environment Volunteers to give back to the community.
Related Links and Resources:
NTU EAC Profile - EAC Studentship
Consolata Gitau Gathoni LinkedIn Profile
Workshop Biocultural Restoration
Centre for Ecological Restoration Kenya (CER-K)Women in Conservation Technology (WiCT) through Wildlabs and Fauna & Flora International (FFI) at Ol Pejeta TechLab,
Conservation Leadership Program (CLP) Alumni Network,
Team members
- Dr Antonio Uzal. Principal Investigator/Director of Studies, ARES, NTU
- Ms Consolata Gathoni Gitau. Postgraduate Researcher. ARES, NTU
- Dr Carlos Abrahams. Co-I. School of Science and Technology, Biosciences, NTU
- Dr Esther Kettel. Co-I. ARES, NTU
- Dr Paul Webala. Co-I. Maasai Mara University, Kenya
Research Publications
Bezeng S. Bezeng, Gabriel Ameka, Chia Michelle Valérie Angui, Laura Atuah, Fortuné Azihou, Yanis Bouchenak-Khelladi, Frank Carlisle, Bi Tra Serges Doubi, Orou G. Gaoue, Wenceslas Gatarabirwa, Consolata Gitau, Craig Hilton-Taylor, Alex Hipkiss, Rodrigue Idohou, Beth A. Kaplin, Lucy Kemp, Jacqueline S. Mbawine, Vincent Logah, Paul Matiku, Paul Kariuki Ndan, 2025. An African perspective to biodiversity conservation in the twenty-first century. Published in 'Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B - Biological Sciences', 09 January 2025, https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2023.0443.