Dickson Misati Atuke
University of Minnesota
Conservation Biology/Kenya

I am a Kenyan national. Currently, I am a Ph.D. candidate in the Conservation Biology Program, at the University of Minnesota from where I hope to graduate by Fall 2007. I have a M.S. in Ecological Marine Management from the Free University Brussels, Belgium, and a B.S. in Natural Resource Conservation and Management from Egerton University, Kenya. Before enrolling in my current program in 2002, I had a brief sojourn in the Conservation Biology program at the University of New Orleans for 1 year.

In my work experiences, I previously worked as an Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Natural Resources, Egerton University, Kenya, for a period of 2 years and before that, I worked as a Teaching Assistant in the same department for 5 years. I am currently on study leave and would resume duties at my work station after graduation.

My research interests are varied and situated in the need to conduct interdisciplinary research to understand the linkage between environmental change vis-‡-vis the interaction with the human system. I look at this discourse from an applied and basic aquatic ecology point of view. To that end, I have previously been involved in a number of activities such as the restoration of mangrove forests in the Kenyan coast to provide resources to the local people and restore some of the core habitat functions. I have also been involved in conducting an appraisal of the tragedy of deforestation in Kenya and the formulation of an array of strategies to combat further degradation.

In my academic life, I have been a recipient of a number of scholarships in recognition of my academic excellence such as the Compton Fellows Scholarship, the FLIR Scholarship (Belgian Government Fellowship) to pursue M.S. studies in Belgium, British Ecological Society Scholarship to attend a one month international conference by the Tropical Biology Association among many more others.