Lucy Kirigo Mureu is a Wildlife Ecologist at Ol Pejeta Conservancy and a lecturer at Chuka University’s Department of Environmental Studies and Resources Development, with more than 15 years of experience in ecological monitoring and academic leadership. Originally from the Rift Valley, Lucy grew up near Mount Kenya, where its snow-covered slopes inspired her to pursue a career protecting wildlife and their habitats. She studies how savannas and forests respond to changing climate patterns and human pressures, examining relationships among vegetation, large herbivores, wildfire, drought and ecosystem health. Lucy holds a master’s degree in wildlife management from Moi University and is pursuing a Ph.D. in climate change and adaptation at the University of Nairobi.

At Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Lucy monitors black rhino habitats and the population densities of large browsing herbivores, studying how these animals impact savanna vegetation. Her doctoral research examines how natural and human-caused fires affect carbon stored in the vegetation of Mount Kenya’s forest ecosystem. Her field experience also includes investigating the role of Sykes monkeys in forest regeneration: during her master’s studies, she tracked individual monkeys to document their diets and surveyed vegetation plots to assess available food.

Using vegetation measurements and geographic information systems (GIS), Lucy investigates environmental change and its effects on local communities. Through statistical analysis and assessments of carbon stored in vegetation, she identifies pressures on vulnerable habitats and drivers of ecological decline. Her research provides evidence that guides habitat restoration, conservation planning and sustainable land management. The National Geographic Society and the Clinton Foundation have supported her work.