Biography

I am a naturalist and ornithological research assistant based at the FitzPatrick Institute for African Ornithology, University of Cape Town. From a very young age, I have always enjoyed cataloguing the natural world around me. Birdwatching went hand in hand, but I have since broadened my fascination to include everything from moss to birds to fish. When I am not busy with research work, you can find me hiking in the Cape Fold Mountains, searching for rare plants, or identifying observations on iNaturalist.

After completing a BSc undergrad in Biology and Applied Statistics at the University of Cape Town, I joined the African Honeyguides team in 2021 as a BSc Honours student. For my Honours project I investigated the basic effects of honey-hunting on wildfire in Niassa Special Reserve in northern Mozambique. I used spatial data collected by honey-hunters as well as fire satellite imagery to quantify the impact honey-hunting, and by extension the human-honeyguide mutualism, has on the timing and frequency of wildfires.

Research focus

My current focus is on expanding the findings of my Honours project and furthering our understanding of how honey-hunting impacts the surrounding ecosystem through fire. Specifically, I am using several years’ worth of data from our study region to explore how wildfires linked to honey-hunting influence subsequent fire regimes; to robustly identify the contribution of the human-honeyguide mutualism to wildfire frequency and timing; and to then model these effects over the greater Niassa Special Reserve. Fire has played a crucial role in shaping human history and by untangling this specific fire-mediated relationship between humans and honeyguides, I hope to add a new perspective to the life histories of both species.

Peer-reviewed publications

• Cram, D.L., van der Wal, J.E.M., Uomini, N.T., Cantor, M., Afan, A.I., Attwood, M.C., Amphaeris, J., Balasani, F., Blair, C.J., Bronstein, J.L., Buanachique, I.O., Cuthill, R.R.T., Das, J., Daura-Jorge, F.G., Deb, A., Dixit, T., Dlamini, G.S., Dounias, E., Gedi, I.I., Gruber, M., Hoffman, L.S., Holzlehner, T., Isack, H.A., Laltaika, A.E., Lloyd-Jones, D.J., Lund, J., Machado, A.M.S., Mahadevan, L., Moreno, I.B., Nwaogu, C.J., Pereira, V.L., Pierotti, R., Rucunua, S.A., dos Santos, W.F., Serpa, N., Smith, B.D., Sridhar, H., Tolkova, I., Tun, T., Valle-Pereira, J.V.S., Wood, B.M., Wrangham, R.W. & Spottiswoode, C.N. 2022 The ecology and evolution of human-wildlife cooperation. People and Nature (in press)
• van der Wal, J.E.M., Spottiswoode, C.N., Uomini, N.T., Cantor, M., Daura-Jorge, F.G., Afan, A.I., Attwood, M.C., Amphaeris, J., Balasani, F., Begg, C.M., Blair, C.J., Bronstein, J.L., Buanachique, I.O., Cuthill, R.R.T., Das, J., Deb, A., Dixit, T., Dlamini, G.S., Dounias, E., Gedi, I.I., Gruber, M., Hoffman, L.S., Holzlehner, T., Isack, H.A., Laltaika, A.E., Lloyd-Jones, D.J., Lund, J., Machado, A.M.S., Mahadevan, L., Moreno, I.B., Nwaogu, C.J., Pereira, V.L., Pierotti, R., Rucunua, S.A., dos Santos, W.F., Serpa, N., Smith, B.D., Tolkova, I., Tun, T., Valle-Pereira, J.V.S., Wood, B.M., Wrangham, R.W. & Cram, D.L. 2022 Safeguarding human-wildlife cooperation. Conservation Letters (in press)