Gabriela Fleury
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Gabriela Fleury John Day Building: 2.09 Email: fleurygs@dukes.jmu.ed |
Gabriela Fleury, a Brazilian-American dual citizen, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, but it took moving to Anchorage, Alaska to truly open up a deep and abiding interest in conservation. She spent a good portion of her formative years outdoors, not only experiencing Alaskan wildlife, but also was able to join her opera director mother on outings into the Alaskan bush. After several years of earthquake tremors, snow, and tiny planes, she moved to Miami, Florida and then to Virginia. Her observations of the clashes between industrialization and wildlife in Alaska led her to choose an undergraduate degree in Geographic Science with a focus on Environmental Conservation, Sustainability and Development at James Madison University (JMU), Virginia. While at university she became particularly interested in human-wildlife conflict in Africa after making a connection with Maasai conservationist and JMU masters student, Jacob Loorimirim, who helped found the Living with Lions initiative. Advised by Jacob and several other Maasai students, she completed her honours thesis on issues around the predator compensation policy for livestock loss in the Kenya’s Amboseli Region. A scholarship by the Rotary Foundation brings her to study at UCT’s FitzPatrick Institute, where she is excited to undertake the CB course as she believes it will give her more of the tools she needs to become a conservation professional. In her spare time, she enjoys writing novels and short stories and listening to Bon Jovi.
Mini-thesis
Environmental change in Riemsvasmaak, Northern Cape, South Africa twenty years after resettlement. (Supervisors: Timm Hoffman, Simon Todd)