Olufemi Olubodun

MSc Wildlife Mgmt, Ibadan

Olufemi has keen interest in Wildlife Ecology. He obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Zoology from the University of Ilorin. Thereafter, he pursued a Master’s degree in Wildlife Management at the University of Ibadan where he examined the population density of Mona Monkeys (Cercopithecus mona) in Omo Forest Reserve, Nigeria. During Olufemi’s time as a Master’s student, he joined the Ibadan Bird Club and volunteered for the Nigeria Bird Atlas Project (NiBAP). During one of the bird atlas expedition, his team recorded the first successful breeding of the endemic endangered Ibadan Malimbe (Malimbus ibadanensis). This reinforced his interest in birds. In 2017 he started to volunteer on a bird monitoring project with a team of ornithologists at the Forest Center, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan. Olufemi later continued as Research Assistant, primarily monitoring the IITA Forest Reserve which is designated an Important Bird Area.

Olufemi is currently studying at the FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology as a PhD student under the supervision of Dr Robert Thomson. His project will investigate the interactions within the animal community that associates with the nests of the Sociable Weaver, an iconic ecosystem engineer in the Kalahari, as well as the cost and benefits of these interactions.

Thesis

Nest as a resource in arid environments: interactions of the Kalahari animal community.

Peer-reviewed publications

Adewale, A.G., Ademola, A., Adeyanju, A.T., Orimaye, O.J., Olubodun, O.P. and Agbo-Adediran, A. 2017. First successful breeding of the Ibadan Malimbe Malimbus ibadanensis. Malimbus 40 (1), 3-9.

Adewale, A.G., Bown, D., Shiiwua, M., Ademola, A., Olasupo, O., and Olubodun, O.P. 2017. First breeding record of the Ahanta Francolin Pternistis ahantensis for Nigeria. African Bird Club Bulletin vol. 25 (1), 70-71.