I am a PhD student researching leprosy on western chimpanzees in central Cantanhez National Park using non-invasive wildlife monitoring methods, including camera traps and faecal sample collection for genetic analysis. I am supervised by Dr Kimberley Hockings and Dr Camille Bonneaud (University of Exeter) and Prof Mike Bruford (Cardiff University).

I graduated in Biology at the University of Barcelona (2013). After studying great apes welfare at the Barcelona Zoo and Fundació Mona primate rescue centre in Spain, I developed an interest in human-wildlife interactions when volunteering as a research assistant for the Jane Goodall Institute in Senegal. While collecting data on chimpanzee ecology, I witnessed first-hand the complexities of great ape and human coexistence in an anthropogenic habitat. Intrigued by the competition between human and nonhuman primates over access to natural resources, I undertook a master’s thesis on the use of a wild fruit by chimpanzees and local people in Senegal. During this study, I adopted a cross-disciplinary approach in conservation, integrating social and natural science methods (fruit trails, semi-structured interviews and participatory observation).