Previous Students
Our Team has changed over time as we have developed and grown, as an organisation and as individuals. These past members of KRC and their contributions made our work successful and worth while. Please read on to find out about what they have done for us and what they have gone on to achieve for the conservation of our wildlife.
Kevin Macfarlane (PhD, Kalahari Research and Conservation)
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Botilo Tshimologo ((PhD student, University of Rhodes))
Botilo completed his masters on wild dogs through the University of Botswana in 2014. Over a two-year period, he worked with three wild dog packs collecting data on spatial movements, dietary preferences and scent marking behaviour. Botilo is now doing his PhD with us on wild dogs through Rhodes University in South Africa. He is looking at wild dogs in the hot arid areas of Botswana in order to undertand what adaptations they have that allow them to survive in the Kalahari.
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Botilo was born and raised in Sefhophe village in the central district before attending the University of Botswana in Gaborone in 2005. His passion for wildlife grew while at University where he joined the Wildlife Conservation Society with trips to national parks and game reserves during vacations. Botilo plans to continue to work within the field of wildlife research and conservation through continuing his studies with a focus on conservation management and leadership.
Keitumetse Ngaka (MSc, University of Botswana)
Keitumetse (KT) is an MSc student born and raised in Seleka village in the Tswapong region of Botswana and the youngest of four sons. KT’s research focuses on comparing human-lion conflict along the western boundary of the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park before and after the erection of an electrified wildlife fence.
KT completed a BSc in Environmental Science at the University of Botswana in 2009 and, after a six month internship in the Department of Environmental affairs, joined the KRC team in 2010. KT joined KRC as a research assistant, working at first with James Bradley on the zebra migration research project as well as other project. The skills learnt as an assistant have helped KT to successfully undertake the necessary fieldwork for his MSc. KT plans to submit his thesis in 2014 and then take the skills learnt into a future career in natural resource management and conservation.
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Boteti Lions Masters from University of Botswana (UB) under KRC. Completed 2016. Keitumetse is now with Leopard Ecology in Khutse
Moses Selebatso (PhD, Kalahari Research and Conservation)
Moses Selebatso has a PhD in Natural Resources Management from the University of Botswana (Okavango Research Institute) studying a blue wildebeest population in the Central Kalahari and Khutse Game Reserves. During this study Moses studied the movement ecology, habitat use, diet composition as well as the quality of water provided for wildlife in the CKGR/Khutse system. The aimed at assessing the viability of the CKGR as an independent habitat for conservation of the wildebeest population, considering the reserve as an potentially isolated remnant of the historical large habitat for the population. Born in Serowe in 1973, Moses grew up in Seolwane village in eastern Botswana, known as the Tswapong region. Moses is married to Eda from Serowe and they are blessed with 4 children, Moses Setso (son), Betsi (daughter), Moatsisi (son) and Montwedi (son).
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Moses has more than 19 years of experience in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation in Botswana and holds a Master of Science Degree in Tropical Ecology and Natural Resources Management from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences. After completing a BSc in Ecology at the University of Botswana, Moses joined Botswana’s Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) as a wildlife biologist and then, in 2007, he joined Conservation International as a Biodiversity Manager for the Western Kgalagadi Conservation Corridor (WKCC) Project. Moses joined Kalahari Research and Conservation in 2011 as a PhD student as he wanted to contribute to conserving the Kalahari ecosystem. He believes that Botswana’s present and future economy is dependent on natural resources, and that wildlife-based tourism will be the main driver of this economy. Moses passed his PhD in 2017 and is now the Program Director for KRC based in Gaborone. Moses a member African Lion Working Group, Birldlife Botswana, Kalahari Conservation Society, Southern African Wildlife Management Association, and a Board member for Cheetah Conservation Botswana.
Leungo Leepile (MSc, FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town)
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Dr Beckie Garbett (PhD, University of Cape Town)
Beckie’s passion for Africa and its wildlife really was ignited by a Kenyan safari in 2004. Since then she has been to various African countries before finally settling in Botswana in 2011. Beckie is now a PhD student with KRC conducting a comparative study of white-headed, white-backed and lappet-faced vultures across Botswana with a focus on the Kalahari.
The African continent inspired a change of career direction for Beckie as she left her job as a paramedic in the UK to pursue a dream of working in wildlife research and conservation. After living in Zimbabwe and Zambia for 18 months working for an eco-tourism wildlife conservation organisation she decided to return to the UK in order to gain a relevant degree. This firsthand experience gave her a greater insight into the value, necessity and application of research for conservation and fuelled her desire to contribute to African wildlife conservation in a way that was effective and sustainable.
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PhD on lappet-faced Vultures at the FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town under Raptors Botswana. Completed in 2018. Now working with Birdlife International based inNairobi, Kenya.
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Tshepo Moatswi (MSc Student, University of Botswana)
Tshepo graduated from the University of Botswana in Gaborone in 2016 in environmental sciences. He joined our team shortly afterwards to start his Masters study on springbok in the Kalahari Trans Frontier park and the Wildlife Management areas to the North. The focus of his masters is to look at the diet and forage selection of springbok as well at their space use.
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Tshepo was born in Makaleng, near Francistown in the north east of Botswana. and his aspiration is to contribute to the conservation of Botswana’s wildlife. His interest is in herbivore ecology in the Kalahari system. Tshepo aspires to contribute to the conservation of Botswana’s wildlife, in particular in the Kalahari regions of Botswana.
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Tsaone Goikantswemang (MSc Student, University of Botswana)
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