Wanja Nyingi (Dr.)

Wanja Dorothy Nyingi is a full-time ichthyologist at the National Museums of Kenya and is the author of the first Guide to Common Freshwater Fishes of Kenya. Her work involves a wider multidisciplinary team working on wetlands and aquatic ecosystems: the Kenya Wetlands Biodiversity Research Team.

She joined ENB in 2009 and has broad interest in biodiversity, forests, climate change and energy. Wanja believes that while international policies are important, no effort in implementation will have successful impacts without grassroots efforts and has focused on working with local communities to restore ecosystem health. She believes tackling forest rehabilitation and restoring water catchments is the key.

Wanja studied at the University of Nairobi where she attained an undergraduate degree in Zoology and Master of Science in Hydrobiology. Thereafter she studied at the University of Montpellier II (France) attaining a second Master’s Degree and a Ph.D in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. In recognition for her work in wetlands biodiversity in East Africa, Wanja was awarded the Order of Academic Palms in 2016 – an Order of Knighthood of France for distinguished academics and figures in the world of culture and education.