Timothy McClanahan, PhD & Nyawira Muthiga, PhD

Tim McClanahan, PhD & Nyawira Muthiga, PhD
Senior Conservation Zoologist
Wildlife Conservation Society
Coral Reef Conservation
Mombasa, Kenya 

Dr. Tim McClanahan and Dr. Nyawira Muthiga are coral reef ecologists and conservationists who have worked in coastal Kenya, East Africa, the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) and around the world (Belize, Indonesia) for over 30 years.  They were founders of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s (WCS) Coral Reef program and have helped developed coral reef research and conservation programs in Kenya, Belize, Madagascar, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, and Fiji, and smaller more temporary field programs in other countries, including Tanzania and Mozambique.

They have advanced work at the frontiers of coral reef science and management by studying key linkages between people and coral reefs. They have distinguished themselves by creating a scientifically rigorous interdisciplinary field program across a global network of coral reefs. They have combined this program with on-the-ground practice to implement sustainable fishing gears and community-based conservation. They are discovering sustainable solutions to coral reef conservation and management that can allow critical species and habitats to recover. As leading coral reef scientists, they have published over 300 peer-reviewed publications, comprising numerous influential studies on the impacts of fishing and the alteration of ecological food webs, tourism, sedimentation, and coral bleaching, and the role of managing fishing gears and marine parks in conservation. To achieve meaningful and enduring conservation, Tim and Nyawira work closely with local communities to implement conservation initiatives that build capacity in adaptive co-management, increase income for fishers, and strengthen local governance and decision-making through an understanding of social and economic processes. In addition to sitting on numerous national and regional conservation boards, their mentorship and leadership have shaped the careers of dozens of local scientists and international scholars, with a particular emphasis on mentoring managers and students in marine sciences and management in the Western Indian Ocean.