Winnie Kiiru | |
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![]() Kiiru at an Ivory Burn in Nairobi in April 30, 2016 | |
Nationality | Kenyan |
Alma mater | University of Zimbabwe University of Kent |
Organization | Wildlife Research Institute |
Known for | Elephant conservation |
Winnie Kiiru is a Kenyan biologist, elephant conservationist, and the chairperson of the Wildlife Research Institute in Naivasha. She is currently the chairperson of Friends of Karura Forest, a Community-Based Organization (CBO) that helps manage Karura forests.
She is also the founder and Executive Director of CHD Conservation Kenya, a CBO based in Amboseli that believes in people-centered conservation.
In 1995, Kiiru earned a Master's degree from the University of Zimbabwe in Tropical Resource Ecology. [1] Kiiru earned a PhD in biology from the University of Kent in Canterbury. [2] [1]
Kiiru has worked for the Elephant Protection Initiative and the Stop Ivory initiative. [3] [4] Dr. Kiiru is the chairperson of the Wildlife Research Institute in Naivasha [5] and the acting chairperson of the Wildlife Research Training Institute in Kenya. [6] Kiiru is a trustee of the Kenya Wildlife Service and the Amboseli Trust for Elephants. [7] [8]
Kiiru helped persuade the Kenyan government to publicly burn ivory tusks, and a video of the burning featured in the 2018 film Anthropocene: The Human Epoch . [9]