Andrea’s love for nature and the outdoors started at a very young age and was largely perpetuated by family trips to the Cederberg, school outdoor clubs and a brother in Scouts. Her tertiary education kicked off with a Certificate in Advanced Game Ranging and Lodge Management, which fuelled her interest in the broader field of conservation. Andrea went on to study a National Diploma in Nature Conservation at Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), completing her in-service year at Helderberg Nature Reserve. While completing both her BTech and Master of Conservation Science, Andrea worked a number of part-time positions, including as a teaching assistant at CPUT and receptionist in a veterinary clinic. 

On completion of her Masters, which made use of camera trapping to investigate medium and large mammal species still surviving in City of Cape Town nature reserves, Andrea’s unique combination of knowledge and experience helped her secure an internship as a Veterinary Research Assistant with the City of Cape Town’s Biodiversity Management Branch. Here she gained experience in a wide variety of fauna monitoring, management and conflict mitigation programmes, as well as general conservation management activities. Andrea has also been a part-time lecturer at CPUT for various Nature Conservation diploma subjects since 2020, and is a volunteer wildland firefighter in her spare time.

Andrea is passionate about bridging the gap between academic research and practical conservation. She also believes strongly in the power of sharing knowledge. Andrea joined the CLT team as Conservation Coordinator in October 2022 and is looking forward to assisting with the facilitation of creative, integrated and practical solutions for improving leopard conservation and human-wildlife conflict mitigation in collaboration with communities and conservation partners.