Nelson Mwangi Gathuku

Detail-oriented researcher with hands-on experience performing fieldwork and data analysis to advance research goals. Drives team success with expertise in data collection, analysis, and reporting of results. Specializes in wildlife management and movement ecology.

• Graduate Teaching and Research Assistant, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, January 2021, Present
• GIS Technician and Tracking Manager, Save the Elephants, Kenya, January 2017, Present
• Part-time Research Assistant, Friends of Karura Forest, Kenya, April 2016, December 2016
• Intern, Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS)/ CITES, Nairobi, Kenya, January 2016, April 2016
• Short-term Employee, Stop Ivory and KWS, April 2016
• Research Intern, Elephants and Bees, Voi, Kenya, February 2015, May 2015
• Part-time Research Intern, Kenya Forestry Research Institute, January 2014, November 2011

• Data Visualization Workshop - GDPE, Dr. Kyle Horton, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, October 2022
• Doing Spatial Data Science Using R and ArcGIS, ESRI User Conference, San Diego, CA, July 2022
• EarthRanger (software for protected areas management) technical training and site administration, Seattle, Washington, November 2019
• Google Earth Engine workshop, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, November 2019
• Advanced GIS and LiDAR, Aarhus University and Mara Elephant Project, Kenya, May 2019
• Online Course: Introduction to Python and Data Structures, Udemy and Pierian Data International, January 2019 - February 2019
• Advanced GIS for Environmental Analysis, Society for Conservation, Juniper GIS and ESRI, Davis, California, June 2018 - July 2018
• Certificate in ArcView and ArcMap and remote sensing, Bell Institute of Technology, Nairobi, Kenya, March 2016 - April 2016

• Wildlife Conservation Network Sidney Byers Scholarship, $15,000, May 2022
• Save the Elephants and Vulcan EarthRanger technical training, Accommodation and airfare, Seattle, November 2019
• Save the Elephants and Vulcan EarthRanger conference funding, Accommodation and airfare, Malawi, October 2019
• Save the Elephants professional development funding, $2100, July 2018
• World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Professional Development Grant, $4800, July 2018
• ESRI: Society for Conservation GIS scholarship, $1000, July 2018
• Elephants and Bees: Undergraduate research grant, Accommodation and research assistantship funded for 4 months, February 2015

Sep 2023: 1st Wildlife Scientific Conference 2023, Naivasaha, Kenya

July 2023: International Congress for Conservation Biology (ICCB), Kigali, Rwanda

July 2022: ESRI Annual User Conference, San Diego, California, USA

March 2022: Front Range Student Ecology Symposium, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA

October 2019: Vulcan’s 5th Annual EarthRanger Conference, Malawi

October 2018: Vulcan's DAS (Domain Awareness System) Conference, Tanzania

July 2018: 38th Annual ESRI International User Conference, San Diego, California, USA

July 2018: 21st Annual SCGIS Conference, Monterey, California, USA

December 2016: 2nd African Conference on Sustainable Tourism (ACoST 2016), Nairobi Kenya

• Investigating Drivers of African Savannah Elephant Home Range Size using Long-term, High-resolution Tracking Data, International Congress for Conservation Biology (ICCB), Kigali, Rwanda, July 2023, Save the Elephants and Colorado State University
• Real-time wildlife monitoring and collaborations across Africa, IUCN World Conservation Congress, Virtual conference, September 2021
• Presentation on use of technology for protected areas management, The Art of Activism - Frans Lanting Award Ceremony, Virtual conference, August 2021, https://vimeo.com/592956789
• Software for Protected Area Management, Geospatial Centroid of Colorado State University, November 2019
• EarthRanger: Using Technology for Protected Area Management, Vulcan’s 5th Annual EarthRanger Conference, Malawi, October 2019
• Using GIS to control and map invasive cacti along the Ewaso Nyiro River, Laikipia-Samburu Ecosystem, Kenya, Society for Conservation GIS 22nd Annual Conference, Monterey CA, July 2019, WWF and ESRI, https://community.esri.com/docs/DOC-11901-nelson-mwangi-kenya
• Effectiveness of Indigenous Knowledge in Human-Wildlife Conflict Mitigation in Sagala, Taita Taveta, Kenya, 2nd African Conference on Sustainable Tourism (ACoST 2016), Nairobi, Kenya, November 2016, Elephants and Bees

• Anti-racist group, Colorado State University, 2021, Present
• WWF Grant Alumnus, 2018, Present
• Society for Conservation GIS, Kenyan Chapter, 2018, Present
• Kenya Bird Map, Nairobi, Kenya, 2018, Present
• Kenya Wildlife Club Member, 2010, Present
• International Climate challenge program, Jan 2006, 2010

• Social integration of translocated wildlife: A case study of rehabilitated and released elephant calves in northern Kenya, Goldenberg, S. Z., Chege, S. M., Mwangi, N., Craig, I., Daballen, D., Douglas-Hamilton, I., Lamberski, N., Lenaipa, M., Lendira, R., Lesowapir, C., Lokooria, L. P., Mutinda, M., Omengo, F., Rowe, K., Stacy-Dawes, J., Wittemyer, G., Owen, M. A., Mammalian Biology, 102, 4, 1299–1314, 2022, https://doi.org/10.1007/s42991-022-00285-9
• Landscape Dynamics (landDX) an open-access spatial-temporal database for the Kenya-Tanzania borderlands, Tyrrell, P., Amoke, I., Betjes, K., Broekhuis, F., Buitenwerf, R., Carroll, S., Hahn, N., Haywood, D., Klaassen, B., Løvschal, M., Macdonald, D., Maiyo, K., Mbithi, H., Mwangi, N., Ochola, C., Odire, E., Ondrusek, V., Ratemo, J., Pope, F., Wall, J., Scientific Data, 9, 1, 2022, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-021-01100-9
• Landscape-scale habitat response of African elephants shows strong selection for foraging opportunities in a human dominated ecosystem, Bastille-Rousseau, G., Wall, J., Douglas-Hamilton, I., Lesowapir, B., Loloju, B., Mwangi, N., Wittemyer, G., Ecography, 149-160, 2019

• ESRI Annual User Conference, July 2022
• Front Range Student Ecology Symposium, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, March 2022
• Vulcan’s 5th Annual EarthRanger Conference, Malawi, October 2019
• Vulcan's DAS (Domain Awareness System) Conference, Tanzania, October 2018
• 38th Annual ESRI International User Conference, California, USA, July 2018
• 21st Annual SCGIS Conference, California, USA, July 2018
• 2nd African Conference on Sustainable Tourism (ACoST 2016), Kenya, December 2016

• Dr. George Wittemyer, Professor, Dept. Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, Colorado State University, +1 970 227 5713, G.Wittemyer@colostate.edu
• Frank Pope, C.E.O, Save the Elephants, +254 725 777 552, frank@savetheelephants.org
• Dr. Chris Thouless, Director of Research and Conservation, Save the Elephants, thouless@savetheelephants.org