Dr. Alfan A Rija

ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS:

PhD in Biology-University of York, United Kingdom.

MSc Conservation Biology (First Class)-Victoria University of Wellington-New Zealand

 BSc Wildlife Management (Upper second class) – Sokoine University of Agriculture-Tanzania

Research Interests:

My interest is centered on understanding ecology and conservation of wild animals and plants and on the biodiversity, and the effect of climate change on these. I do research on the effects of human activities (both legal and illegal-poaching) on biological resources to understand their impacts on the viability of wild animal and plant populations. Also I do biodiversity inventory particularly of the spiders of Tanzania to understand community assemblages across a range of environmental parameters. Ecological restoration of threatened species is my passion and I am particularly interested in the ways on how reintroduced population establishes in new environment, the patterns of dispersal and foraging after release and reproduction as well as understanding their long-term survival.

 In my research group, I welcome student research projects in any of the following fields;

• Invertebrate biodiversity research with a particular focus on how human activities my impact their populations.
• Amphibian research- all sorts of themes from basic to applied research and from ex situ to in-situ conservation.
• Plant-Animal interactions- Such project would be lined in understanding the basic but novel information on the biological and or ecological drivers of the interactions and how these regulate species populations.
• Illegal activities in protected areas from terrestrial to aquatic ecosystems and how these impact on species performance.
• Climate change impacts and biodiversity conservation.

 While the above may provide insights and stimulate thinking among students, I also welcome student ideas on research that may fall outside the above list.