Sandra Tranquilli
FOUNDER
Education & Academic Experiences - Dr Sandra Tranquilli is a wildlife conservation biologist, ethologist and anthropologist. She obtained a PhD in Biological Anthropology at the University College London (UCL UK), in conjunction with the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. Her PhD thesis was on assessing threats and conservation efforts of African great apes (chimpanzees, gorillas, bonobos). She holds a Diploma in Biology and an MSc in animal behavior and ecology obtained at the University ‘La Sapienza’ in Rome with a thesis on the vocal and anti-predatory behavior of black and white colobus monkeys in Ivory Coast. She holds an MPhil in primatology obtained at UCL UK with a thesis on Nigerian chimpanzees’ insectivory and tool use.
Since 2013, she has been working as a postdoctoral researcher at UCL in the UK, Potsdam University in Germany, and at Aarhus University in Denmark. Prior to this, she has been a researcher at the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and at the University of Cambridge, UK.
Surveying chimpanzee nests in Nigeria (Gashaka Gumti National Park)
Studying meerkats social behavior in South Africa (Kalahari desert)
Working on monkeys vocalization In Ivory Coast (Täi National Park)
Outdoor workshop in Munich, Bavaria
Background Knowledge & Fieldwork - Sandra has over 15 years of experience in wildlife behavior and ecology, global biodiversity conservation, and project development and management. She lived and worked in several tropical forests across Africa (Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Cameroon, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania), in South Africa, in Europe (Italy, Netherlands, Germany), and the United Kingdom. She committed her fieldwork to understanding the behavior and ecology of various animals such as wild boars, black and white colobus monkeys, meerkats, chimpanzees, gorillas, bonobos, small carnivores, and raptors. Her work focused as well on the conservation of their population and distribution, their threats, and their habitat management to improve conservation outcomes. She contributed to various scientific papers, reports, and book chapters and collaborated with more than 150 researchers and NGOs worldwide (for more details click here).
Work with academic institutions - She conducts scientific research projects on the behavior, population trend, and distribution of different animal species, their extinction rates, and their conservation strategies in protected and non-protected areas. She collaborates with academic institutions and non-profit research organizations across Europe and Africa and gives seminars and courses in universities (Warsaw University, UCL) and primary schools in Germany (Munich, Berlin) on Wildlife Behavior & Conservation, Primatology, and Anthropology.
Work with children - Sandra taught local wildlife biology, ecology, and conservation to primary school children in several parks in London (UK) and collaborated with non-profit organizations supporting children's education in Central and West Africa. Since 2014, she has been creating children and toddlers interactive and sensory quiet books using natural and recycled materials, and other art projects focusing on the importance of recycling and reusing materials. In 2019 she founded Little Wildlife Explorers and since then she is a regular science teacher in kindergartens and primary schools conducting indoor and outdoor English nature lab classes and courses for children from 18 months to 10 years old both in Berlin and Munich.
Personal life - She was born in Rome, Italy, to an English mother and Italian father, and she has been living in Germany for more than 10 years (first in Leipzig, then Berlin, and currently in Munich). She is a mum of a boy of 9 and a girl of 4 years old. Her mission is to help children develop a sense of wonder by exploring nature with all their senses and make sure that they create a connection with nature that does not get lost.
For more info on Curriculum Vitae, please visit: