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Veera grew up in both Hong Kong and India, where she hiked to escape the city and studied at a boarding school in the Nilgiri Mountain Range. During her undergraduate degree in Biology at Imperial College London, she became increasingly involved in rock climbing and mountaineering. Through these sports, she developed a strong passion to protect and understand the unique natural habitats to which she was continually exposed. So, she opted for modules focusing on ecology and conservation biology and gained some field experience while working on a research project studying human and deer conflict in England. Her final year dissertation focused on global change, where she conducted a meta-analysis to study the impact of four environmental stressors on marine ecology.
Veera’s interest in the African context developed when she participated in an African Biology field course in 2018. She was inspired by this experience to continue applying her foundational knowledge of ecology and conservation to the field. After graduating in 2019, she found herself climbing trees and working with the endemic Echo Parakeets in Mauritius for five months. Veera is certain that this Masters will build on her foundational knowledge and provide her with the tools needed for the effective conservation of threatened species and habitats. She is thrilled to have the opportunity to explore all the climbing and hiking around Cape Town and is keen on improving her birding skills!
Thesis:
How common ravens (Corvus corax) exploit anthropogenic food sources through time and space in a semi-transformed, alpine environment. Supervisors: Petra Sumasgutner, Thomas Bugnyar and Susan Cunningham.