Lois David - Lois joined our research group initially as a Field Technician in early 2024, where she contributed to field-based ecological data collection and habitat assessments across multiple study sites. Her strong research aptitude and commitment to conservation science led her to transition into a graduate program in Fall 2025. As a master’s student, Lois is investigating how land-use change and altered disturbance regimes influence habitat availability and spatial distribution for the sub-Saharan endemic and globally threatened Northern Ground Hornbill (Bucorvus abyssinicus), formerly known as the Abyssinian Ground Hornbill, within a Sudan Savanna landscape. Her thesis integrates landscape ecology, remote sensing, and species distribution modeling to elucidate the ecological consequences of anthropogenic modification on this long-lived, territorial species—an important ecological indicator of savanna integrity.Lois holds a Bachelor’s degree in Plant Science and Biotechnology from the University of Jos, Nigeria, where her undergraduate research focused on the “Composition and diversity of seedlings in the gallery forest of Amurum Forest Reserve, Nigeria.” That study sought to project future forest structure and evaluate its potential ecological and socioeconomic benefits as a means of fostering local community support for forest conservation. Her growing expertise bridges vegetation ecology and avian conservation, with a particular interest in understanding how landscape processes shape biodiversity persistence in rapidly changing African ecosystems