Prudence Tegueu Kemeni

Prudence comes from Cameroon, a country commonly called “Africa in miniature”, where rich fauna, flora and cultural diversity is increasingly threatened by the climate crisis and human activities. These threats mean that many of Cameroon’s native species are on the verge of local extinction.

Prudence is an interdisciplinary young female conservationist whose big dream is to become a positive and impactful conservation leader, researcher, and educator, and to contribute significantly to addressing the threats facing conservation - not only in her country, but also globally - by generating workable local and international solutions. She grew up in Douala where she completed her primary and secondary education, and she completed her BSc and MSc degrees in environmental Sciences, majoring in Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), at the Higher Institute of Environmental Sciences (HIES / IBAYSUP), Nkolbisson-Yaounde.

In her primary and secondary school, Prudence wanted to do civil engineering, but, encouraged and motivated by her father, she chose environmental studies. During her Bachelor’s degree, her courses and fieldwork gave her a love for nature and its components. She became very curious and started asking questions such as, ‘what has been done in my country and elsewhere?’; ‘what is missing in my country?’; ‘can we really talk about environmental impact assessment without conservation biology and sustainable development?’; ‘what would make a better world?’; ‘how can I contribute?’, and ‘how could I make a difference?’. This formed the basis of her passion for research into the environment and conservation.

While completing her degrees in environmental studies in French - her first language - she realised that she would need English, a lingua franca to communicate with other environmentalists and conservationists. In 2022, she began lessons in English, while also completing a free, online course in conservation sciences. For her MSc thesis, she investigated the importance of traditional ecological knowledge of Baka pygmies in environmental assessments in the Dja Biosphere Reserve in Cameroon. She then attended the Tropical Biology Association field course in Kenya, developed to build the capacity of future conservation leaders.

She spent two years working with the Cameroon Biodiversity Association (CAMBIO) as an administrative and research assistant. She also has service leadership experience, including student leadership roles, moderating oral presentation sessions at an international conference, and volunteering in several NGOs, including the Red Cross Society, Student4Student and urban waste recycling projects. She intends to develop these skills in her future career as a conservation leader, researcher, educator, and female role model in her country and beyond. She believes the Conservation Biology MSc programme at UCT will be a stepping stone to her career and the impact she wants to have in conservation.

While her research topic is not yet refined, she intends to focus on human well-being and sustainable natural resources.