Research Coordinator

Research areas

• Biodiversity credits
• Conservation science

Responsibilities

I train and mentor master’s and PhD students, write scientific publications, disseminate research results at scientific conferences, and foster partnerships and collaborative research efforts with other organizations.

Research interests

I have been conducting research on topics that are relevant to biodiversity conservation in natural settings. Building on that background, I am now investigating biodiversity credits. I am specially focussed on the development and testing of metrics and methodologies that can be used to measure biodiversity credits.

Brief biography

I completed a five-year study program (Master of Engineering) in forestry and wildlife at the University of Dschang, Cameroon. I initially joined the Antwerp Zoo Projet Grands Singes (PGS) in Cameroon in March 2006 as a master’s student and studied the impact of village hunting on duikers at the northern periphery of the Dja Reserve. After graduating from the University of Dschang in March 2007, I immediately returned to PGS as a volunteer where I implemented ecological survey studies, collected, processed and analyzed data, conducted training workshops with local communities, and wrote a report summarizing research results. My progressively responsible experience culminated in the role of Research Coordinator in March 2009. In addition, I registered at Ghent University, Belgium, as a PhD student. From 2007 to 2011, I collected a substantial amount of data, part of which were used for my PhD. I conducted field work in Cameroon until 2011, and then moved to Belgium, where I finalized and defended my PhD thesis in November 2012. For my PhD, I studied the ecological drivers of understory herbaceous plants in a tropical forest and the use of these plants by western lowland gorillas. From late 2012 to late 2018, I split my time between Belgium and Africa. During that time, I have conducted additional field work in Cameroon and DR Congo. I am now primarily based in Belgium with occasional field trips to DR Congo.

Extra activities

Some of my research activities were conducted within the framework of consultancy projects.

Key publications

Kuenbou, J. K., Tagg, N., Khan, D. M., Speelman, S., & Willie, J. (2024). Socioeconomic changes influence hunter behavior in the northern periphery of Dja Faunal Reserve, Cameroon. Animal Conservation, 27(4), 437-448.

Tédonzong, L. R. D., Ndju'u, M. B. M., Tchamba, M., Angwafo, T. E., Lens, L., Tagg, N., & Willie, J. (2023). The influence of vegetation structure on sleeping site selection by chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes troglodytes). American Journal of Primatology, e23505.

Laudisoit, A., Huyghe, P., Willie, J., Ndjoku, B., Scholier, T., Dz'na, J., ... Verheyen, E. 2021. Chimpanzees surviving in a fragmented high‐altitude forest landscape of the Congolese Albertine Rift. Conservation Science and Practice 3(6), e403.

Tagg, N., Kuenbou, J. K., Laméris, D. W., Meigang, F. M. K., Kekeunou, S., Epanda, M. A., ... Willie, J. 2020. Long-term trends in wildlife community structure and functional diversity in a village hunting zone in southeast Cameroon. Biodiversity and Conservation 29(2), 571-590.

Kühl, H. S., Boesch, C., Kulik, L., Haas, F., Arandjelovic, M., Dieguez, P., …Willie, J ... Kalan, A. K. 2019. Human impact erodes chimpanzee behavioral diversity. Science 363(6434), 1453-1455.

Ávila, E., Tagg, N., Willie, J., Mbohli, D., Farfán, M. Á., Vargas, J. M., ... & Fa, J. E. (2019). Interpreting long-term trends in bushmeat harvest in southeast Cameroon. Acta Oecologica, 94, 57-65.

Tédonzong, L.R.D., Willie, J., Keuko, A.M.P., Kuenbou, J.K., Njotah, G., Tchamba, M.N., Tagg, N., Lens, L., 2018. Using abundance and habitat variables to identify high conservation value areas for threatened mammals. Biodiversity and Conservation 27, 1115-1137.

Tagg, N., Willie, J., Duarte, J., Petre, C.A., Fa, J.E., 2015. Conservation research presence protects: a case study of great ape abundance in the Dja region, Cameroon. Animal Conservation 18, 489-498.

Willie, J., Tagg, N., Petre, C.-A., Pereboom, Z., Lens, L., 2014. Plant selection for nest building by western lowland gorillas in Cameroon. Primates 55, 41-49.

Tagg, N., Willie, J., 2013. The Influence of Transect Use by Local People and Reuse of Transects for Repeated Surveys on Nesting in Western Lowland Gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) and Central Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes troglodytes) in Southeast Cameroon. International Journal of Primatology 34, 554-570.

Willie, J., De la Peña, E., Tagg, N., Lens, L., 2013. Effects of abiotic factors on herbaceous plant community structure: a case study in southeast Cameroon. In: Herbaceous Plants: Cultivation Methods, Grazing and Environmental Impacts (Ed. F. Wallner). Nova Science Publishers, New York. ISBN 978-1-62618-729-0. Willie, J., Petre, C.A., Tagg, N., Lens, L., 2013. Density of herbaceous plants and distribution of western gorillas in different habitat types in south‐east Cameroon. African Journal of Ecology 51, 111-121.

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