Raymond Owino

Raymond is a first-year PhD student in the School of Natural Resources and the Environment, pursuing Wildlife Conservation and Management and a part of Jesse Alston's lab. Raymond is broadly interested in studying population ecology, animal behavior, and conservation. Currently, he is working on training local communities in Kenya to monitor giraffes using GiraffeSpotter, which is an AI-powered platform used to identify giraffes based on their unique skin pattern. This will enable him to study errors that may occur during giraffe monitoring and develop a standardized giraffe monitoring protocol. 

Raymond obtained his Bachelor of Science in Wildlife Management from Maasai Mara University and a Master of Science in Biology of Conservation from the University of Nairobi, both in Kenya. Over the years, Raymond has worked as a research and conservation manager at the Hirola Conservation Programme and Somali Giraffe Project. Recently, he served as a data and reporting manager at the Mara Elephant Project. 

Raymond was born in the western region of Kenya, near Lake Victoria. Over the years, He has since traveled to all but three counties in Kenya for conservation and research purposes, as well as for leisure. Currently, he is working to establish a network of young research conservationists in Kenya. After graduation, his goal is to transform this network into a non-profit organization that will provide evidence-based conservation solutions for conservation managers. Apart from his academic endeavors, He is a versatile individual who enjoys outdoor activities such as bird watching, wildlife photography, and playing a variety of sports such as volleyball, tennis, and soccer.