{"id":859,"date":"2026-05-13T13:02:27","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T13:02:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/gses\/?p=859"},"modified":"2026-05-13T13:02:29","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T13:02:29","slug":"meet-our-graduates-isaac-research-fellow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/gses\/2026\/05\/13\/meet-our-graduates-isaac-research-fellow\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet our Graduates: Isaac, Research Fellow"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Isaac Nduta, MSc Conservation and Biodiversity (2024)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Research Fellow at the African Wildlife Foundation in partnership with the University of Exeter<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coming from a background in actuarial science, I spent years assessing asset limits and financial risk. I realised there was a massive translation gap between the natural world and the financial world. I wanted to understand how we could price nature-related risks and value ecosystem integrity with the same rigour we apply to pension funds. I chose to pursue an MSc in Conservation and Biodiversity<\/a> to gain the ecological and geospatial skills necessary to bridge the gap between the biosphere and the balance sheet.<\/p>\n\n\n

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African Biodiversity field course students in Kenya, 2025<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The University of Exeter, particularly the Penryn Campus in Cornwall<\/a>, has a global reputation for applied conservation science<\/a>. \u00a0I was specifically drawn to the\u00a0Terrestrial Ecosystem Restoration and Adaptation\u00a0research cluster, focusing specifically on the\u00a0Terrestrial Ecosystem Science and Services (TESS) Lab<\/a>, because I wanted an environment that did not just teach ecology in a vacuum but looked at social-ecological systems acknowledging that conservation is as much about people and governance as it is about biology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cornwall is a unique academic hub, home to renowned researcher who are dedicated to the very ecosystems I am most passionate about, East Africa\u2019s rangelands. My favourite thing was the immediate relevance of the curriculum; the MSc course included an international field course in my home country of Kenya<\/a>, allowing me to apply global scientific frameworks to my local landscape. This was the direct bridge between my education in the UK and my commitment to conserving landscapes back home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since graduating, my career has moved at a high pace. I am currently a Research Fellow at the African Wildlife Foundation. My work centres on Habitat Intelligence, using machine learning and satellite data (specifically the\u00a0Relative Productivity Index<\/a>) to assess vegetation productivity in Kenya\u2019s Tsavo landscape. Recently, I was also appointed as a Co-Lead (Young Professional) for the\u00a0IUCN Ecosystem Governance Thematic Group (EGTG), and an\u00a0IUCN PANORAMA ambassador, where I help shape global policy on how\u00a0ecosystems are managed and governed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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