Speakers

Dr. Shivani Bhalla

Born and raised in Kenya, Dr. Shivani Bhalla believes the key to lion conservation is working in partnership with local communities. She founded Ewaso Lions in 2007 to promote coexistence between carnivores and people. Shivani has a BSc. in Environmental Science, received her MSc. in Wildlife Biology and Conservation, and was awarded her Ph.D. in Zoology in 2017. She is a member of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group, African Lion Working Group, Large Carnivore Taskforce, and a founding member of the Pride Lion Conservation Alliance. She is a recipient of the 2014 Whitley Award and the 2013 Rabinowitz-Kaplan Prize. Shivani moved to Samburu in 2002 and lives with her dogs, Kura and Nanyori, in the Ewaso Lions Camp in Westgate Conservancy.

Dr. Pablo "Popi" Borboroglu

Pablo is the founder and president of the Global Penguin Society. He is also a researcher at the National Research Council in Argentina, associate professor at the University of Washington, and the co-founder and co-chair of the IUCN Penguin Specialist Group. He has spent 33 years in the field of marine conservation, focusing on protected areas and seabird ecology and conservation, with special emphasis on penguins. He leads a global conservation effort for penguins and together with his team he has helped protect 32 million acres of ocean and coastal habitat for penguins. He received his Ph.D. with honors in Biology from the National University of Comahue. Pablo is a recipient of the 2018 Whitley Gold Award, an Associate Laureate of the 2019 Rolex Awards for Enterprise, and a winner of the 2023 Indianapolis Prize—the first recipient from South America.

David Daballen

David is Head of Field Operations, and has worked for STE for almost two decades now. He has been featured in several films and documentaries (BBC, Nat Geo, etc) and in addition has been quoted severally on the local media houses on wildlife related matters. A Diploma holder in wildlife management, David has been head of Long Term Monitoring program (LTM) and can individually identify about 500 Samburu elephants on sight – a very unique talent. Besides monitoring elephants, he has also participated in over 100 radio collaring operation. Due to the recent surge in poaching, David has been involved in planning and organizing several community meetings, aimed at combating the scourge on ground level and acts as link between the project, communities and the local authority. At the same time, David has been fortunate enough to represent STE during fundraising and awareness events in the US and in China respectively and has good relations with Chinese goodwill ambassadors such as Yao Ming and Li Bingbing.

Dr. Lucy King

Dr. Lucy King is a zoologist, the Head of the Human-Elephant Co-Existence (HEC) program for Save The Elephants, and the HEC program manager for the Elephant Crisis Fund. Based in Kenya, Lucy has been researching the use of honey bees as a natural deterrent for crop-raiding elephants since 2006 in partnership with Oxford University, and has published her findings in many scientific journals. As a member of the IUCN’s African Elephant Specialist Group, she promotes coexistence between elephants and people. Her TEDWomen Talk on the subject was listed in the top 10 TED Talks for 2020. Last year, her team constructed a Women’s Eco-Enterprise Center next to Tsavo National Park, demonstrating alternative income projects for women living in conflict with elephants.

Jeneria Lekilelei

Jeneria joined Ewaso Lions in 2008 at 19 years old. At that time, he spoke limited English and saw lions only as killers of goats and cows. Today, Jeneria is Ewaso Lions’ Director of Community Conservation. Jeneria’s knowledge of lions, his ability to de-escalate conflict, and his vast people skills are crucial to Ewaso Lions’ daily operations. Jeneria has won Disney’s Conservation Hero Award, the Houston Zoo’s Wildlife Warrior Award, the Paradise Foundation’s inaugural Africa’s Ranger Award, and was a finalist for the Tusk Conservation Awards in 2019. He also developed the Warrior Watch program in 2010 and has engaged dozens of Samburu warriors in lion conservation.

Dr. Olivier Nsengimana