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Dr Wilfred O. Odadi

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Staff Information
PERSONAL DETAILS
Designation
SENIOR LECTURER
Corporate Email
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Personal Email
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Job Category
Teaching
Phone Number
+254722673702
Division / Faculty
Faculty of Environment and Resources Development
Directorate / Dept
DEPT. OF NATURAL RESOURCES
Section
Main Campus, Egerton
Address
Egerton University
SUMMARY

Over 15 years of teaching experience at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Proven track record in mentorship and supervision of postgraduate students. Extensive experience in conducting research and consultancy assignments in savanna rangeland ecology and management, including livestock-wildlife interactions, pastoralism, grazing management, biodiversity conservation and community-based natural resource management. Proven track record in writing and winning research grants. Strong publication record in peer-reviewed high-impact journals.

ORCID
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0165-4861
ACADEMIA
https://egerton.academia.edu/wilfredodadi
Researchgate
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Wilfred-Odadi
Google Scholar
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=wBlNrikAAAAJ&hl=en
ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS
  • 2010: Ph.D., Natural Resources Management - Egerton University, Kenya
  • 2004: M.Phil. Environmental Studies (Biological Sciences) - Moi University, Kenya.
  • 1997: B.Sc. Range Management - University of Nairobi, Kenya
FIELDS OF SPECIALIZATION
  • Natural resources management with inclination towards ecology, conservation and management of savanna rangeland ecosystems
PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS
  • Environmental Impact Assessment Certificate
  • Environmental Impact Assessment/Audit Expert

 

WORK EXPERIENCE
  • 2023-Present: Senior Lecturer, Department of Natural Resources, Egerton University
  • 2013-2023: Lecturer, Department of Natural Resources, Egerton University
  • 2011-2013: Lecturer, School of Spatial Planning and Natural Resource Management, JaramogiOgingaOdinga University of Science and Technology
  • 2010-2011: Part-time Lecturer, University of Nairobi and Egerton University
  • 2007-2008: Consultant Research Supervisor, Population Services International
  • 2004-2006: Field Team Leader, Samburu Wildlife Habitats Project, Samburu Conservation Research Initiative, Earthwatch Institute
  • 2005-2005: Consultant EIA Expert, Africa Waste Management Centre
  • 2004: Vegetation and Biodiversity Monitoring Consultant, Samburu Heartland Project, African Wildlife Foundation (AWF)
KEY PROJECTS
  1. 2020-2022: Co PI, Evaluating the potential of intensive livestock grazing and corralling to enhance ecosystem services in Africa's communal rangelands. FLAIR Collaboration Grant, Grant number: FCG\R1\201009; GBP 50,000
  2. 2019-2022: PI, Evaluating land sharing schemes between communal and private ranches, and grazing intensity effects on biodiversity and livestock productivity in northern Kenya. FLAIR Fellowship Grant, Grant number: FLR\R1\191204; GBP 260,000
  3. 2020-2024: Co-PI, National Science Foundation (NSF); Grant number DEB-1931224; £415,520.00; “LTREB: Stability and resilience in the face of multiple interacting press and pulse disturbances of a changing world (Kenya Long-term Exclosure Experiment: KLEE)”. [Please note that I fully participated in writing the grant but my name could not be included because I am not a US citizen. However, I am fully recognized as a Co-PI. The PI, Dr. Truman Young (email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) can confirm.
  4. 2018-2019: Co-PI, Interactive effects of cattle and wildlife on post-fire herbaceous vegetation composition and nutritive quality. The National Geographic Society's Committee for Research and Exploration, Grant number: EC-44772R-18; USD 5,880
  5. 2016-2019: Co-PI, Savanna synergies: complex interactions between fire and wild and domestic herbivores. The National Geographic Society's Committee for Research and Exploration, Grant number: 9986-16; USD 24,400
  6. 2013-2015: Enhancing pastoral livelihoods and environmental conservation through smart livestock grazing in northern Kenyan. Funded by The Nature Conservancy under the NatureNet Science Fellowship Programme (Grant number CNV1002484 US $ 200,000)
  7. 2006-2007: The Effects of Wild Herbivores on the Nutrition and Production Performance of Cattle in Laikipia Rangeland, Kenya. International Foundation for Science (Grant number: B/4182-1); USD $11,000

 

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Rangeland ecology and management; livestock-wildlife interactions; grazing management; sustainable pastoralism and pastoral livelihoods; wildlife conservation and management; ecology and sustainable management of human-dominated savanna landscapes; plant-animal interactions; and ecosystem-based climate change adaptation solutions

LIST OF PUBLICATIONS
  1. Kazanski, Clare & Balehegn, Mulubhran & Jones, Kristal & Bartlett, Harriet & Calle, Alicia & Garcia, Edenise & Hawkins, Heidi-Jayne & Mayberry, Dianne & McDonald-Madden, Eve & Odadi, Wilfred & Zionts, Jessica & Clark, Michael & Garnett, Tara & Herrero, Mario & Vanzanten, Hannah & Ritten, J. & Mallmann, Giovanni & Harrison, Matthew & Bossio, Deborah & Gennet, Sasha. (2025). Context is key to understand and improve livestock production systems. Global Food Security. 10.1016/j.gfs.2025.100840.

  2. Wells, H.B.M. D.M. Kimuyu, W.O. Odadi, G.K. Charles, K.E. Veblen, L.M. Porensky, C. Riginos, C.R. Ebel, J. Ekadeli, M. Namoni, J. Ekeno, B. Kimiti, S. Kurukuru, A.A. Hassan, A.A. Wolf, R.M. Pringle, and T.P. Young. 2025. Disentangling disturbances in drylands: Interactions among herbivory, drought, and termite activity in savanna plant communities. Journal of Ecology, in press.

  3. Riginos, C., D.M. Kimuyu, K.E. Veblen, L.M. Porensky, W.O. Odadi, H.B.M. Wells, R.L. Sensenig and T.P. Young. 2024. Getting better with age: lessons from the Kenya Long-term Exclosure Experiment (KLEE). Ecology Letters 27: e14466. pdf

  4. Mosse MN, Odadi WO, Kibue GW. (2024) Anthropogenic Threats to Crocodiles, and the Level and Sociodemographic Determinants of their Utilization in Lower River Tana Basin, Kenya. Tropical Conservation Science. 2024;17. doi:10.1177/1940082924124145.

  5. Mosse, MN., Kibue, G., & Odadi, W. (2023). Nile Crocodile Nesting Ecology Under Varying Human Disturbance Intensities along Lower River Tana, Kenya. Current Trends in Natural Sciences, 12(24), 110-126.
  6. Leley, N.C., Langat, D.K., Kisiwa, A.K., Nzove, B., Maranga, E.K., Odadi, W.O. and Koskey, C.C. 2023. Recovery Status and Livestock Use of a Kenyan Montane Forest a Decade after Cessation of Human Encroachment. Open Journal of Ecology, 13, 291-319. https://doi.org/10.4236/oje.2023.135019

  7. Ngugi, M.W.; Kimuyu, D.M.; Sensenig, R.L.; Odadi, W.O.; Kiboi, S.K.; Omari, J.K.; Young, T.P. 2022. Fire and herbivory interactively suppress the survival and growth of trees in an African semiarid savanna. Fire 5, 169. https://doi.org/ 10.3390/fire5050169.

  8. Wells HBM, Crego RD, Ekadeli J, Namoni M, Kimuyu DM, Odadi WO, Porensky LM, Dougill AJ, Stringer LC and Young TP (2022) Less Is More: Lowering Cattle Stocking Rates Enhances Wild Herbivore Habitat Use and Cattle Foraging Efficiency. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 10:825689. doi: 10.3389/fevo.2022.825689
  9. Oburah, K.O., C. Lenachuru, and W.O. Odadi. 2021. Does the Community Conservancy ModelWork for Pastoralists?Does the Community Conservancy ModelWork for Pastoralists?Insights from Naibunga Conservancy in Northern Kenya. Sustainability 2021, 13, 7772.
  10. Young, T.P., D.M. Kimuyu, W.O. Odadi, H.B.M. Wells and A.A. Wolf. 2021. Naïve plant communities and individuals may initially suffer in the face of reintroduced megafauna: An experimental exploration of rewilding from an African savanna rangeland. PLoS ONE 16(4): e024885
  11. Wells, H.B.M., D.M. Kimuyu, WO. Odadi, A.J. Dougill, L.C. Stringer and T.P. Young. 2021. Wild and domestic savanna herbivores increase smaller vertebrate diversity, but less than additively. Journal of Applied Ecology, 00:1–11. DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.13843
  12. Odadi, W.O., G. K. Charles and T.P. Young. 2018. Cattle select African savanna termite mound patches less when sharing habitat with wild herbivores. Ecology and Evolution 8:9074–9085.
  13. Odadi, W.O., C. Riginos and D.I. Rubenstein. 2018. Tightly bunched herding improves cattle performance in African savanna rangeland. Rangeland Ecology and Management 71 (2018) 481–491.
  14. Goheen, J. R., D. J. Augustine, K. E. Veblen, D. M. Kimuyu, T. M. Palmer, L. M. Porensky, R. M. Pringle, J. Ratnam, C. Riginos, M. Sankaran, A. T. Ford, A. A. Hassan, R. Jakopak, T. R. Kartzinel, S. Kurukura, A. M. Louthan, W O. Odadi, T. O. Otieno, A. M. Wambua, H. S. Young, and T. P. Young. 2018. Conservation lessons from large-mammal manipulations in East African savannas: the KLEE, UHURU, and GLADE experiments. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1429:31-49.
  15. Young, T.P., L.M. Porensky , C. Riginos, K.E. Veblen, O. Odadi, D.M. Kimuyu, G.K. Charles, H.S. Young. 2018. Relationships between cattle and biodiversity in multiuse landscape revealed by Kenya Long-Term Exclosure Experiment. Rangeland Ecology and Management 71, 281–291.
  16. Kinga, G.W., J. Mironga and O. Odadi. 2018. Analysis of the spatial relationship between cattle and wild ungulates across different land-use systems in a tropical savanna landscape. International Journal of Ecology Volume 2018, Article ID 2072617, 12 pages. https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/2072617.
  17. Odadi, W.O. 2018. Using heart girth to estimate live weight of heifers (Bos indicus) in pastoral rangelands of northern Kenya. Livestock Research for Rural Development. Volume 30, Article #16. http://www.lrrd.org/lrrd30/1/wood30016.html.
  18. Odadi, W.O., J. Fargione and D.I. Rubenstein. 2017. Vegetation, wildlife, and livestock responses to planned grazing management in an African pastoral landscape. Land Degradation and Development 28, 2030-2038.
  19. Odadi, W.O., M. Kimuyu, R.L. Sensenig, K.E. Veblen, C. Riginos and T.P. Young. 2017. Fire-induced negative nutritional outcomes for cattle when sharing habitat with native ungulates in an African savanna. Journal of Applied Ecology 54, 935–944.
  20. Gadiye, D.E., G.W. Eshiamwatta and W.O. Odadi. 2016. Spatial temporal distribution of the black rhino populationSpatial temporal distribution of the black rhino populationin the Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania.International Journal of Biological Research, 4 (2) (2016) 232-236.
  21. Odadi, W.O. and D.I. Rubenstein 2015. Herd size-dependent effects of restricted foraging time allowance on cattle behavior, nutrition, and performance. Rangeland Ecology & Management, 68:341-348.
  22. Odadi, W.O., M.M. Karachi, S.A. Abdulrazak and T.P. Young. 2013. Protein supplementation reduces non-grass foraging by a primary grazer. Ecological Applications, 23:455-463.
  23. Riginos, C., L.M. Porensky, K.E. Veblen, O. Odadi, R.L. Sensenig, D. Kimuyu, M.L. Wilkerson and T.P. Young. 2012. Lessons on the relationship between livestock husbandry and biodiversity from the Kenya Long-term Exclosure Experiment (KLEE). Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice 2012 2:10.
  24. Odadi, W.O., S.A. Abdulrazak, M.K. Karachi and T.P. Young. 2011. African wild ungulates compete with or facilitate cattle depending on season. Science 333:1753-1755.
  25. Odadi, W., M. Jain, S.E. Van Wieren, H.H.T. Prins and D.I. Rubenstein. 2011. Facilitation between bovids and equids on an African savanna. Evolutionary Ecology Research 13:237-252.
  26. Odadi, W.O., J.B.Okeyo-Owuor and T.P. Young. 2009. Behavioural responses of cattle to shared foraging with wild herbivores in an East African Rangeland. Journal of Applied Animal Behaviour Science 116:120-125.
  27. Odadi, W.O., T.P. Young, and J.B.Okeyo-Owuor. 2007. Effects of wildlife on cattle diets in Laikipia rangeland, Kenya. Range Ecology and Management 60:179-185.
CONFERENCES & INVITED PRESENTATIONS
  1. "Enhancing biodiversity, ecosystem services and livelihoods in African rangelands". Presented at the Commonwealth Science Conference - Sub-Saharan Africa, 14th to 16th March 2022, Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, Accra, Ghana.
  2. “Cattle, wildlife and foraging hotspots in African savanna”. Department of Wildland Resources, Utah State University, Utah, USA. Invited seminar talk, presented virtually on 10th March 2021.
  3. “The effects of grazing cattle and donkeys in Kenya”. Presented at the 8th Annual Donkey Welfare Symposium (DWS), 30th October to 1st November 2020, University of California, Davis, California (UCD), USA.
  4. “Enhancing livestock-wildlife coexistence in African savannas”. Presented at Pathways Kenya 2020: Human Dimensions of Wildlife Conference and Training, 16th-19th February 2020, Brackenhurst Conference and Training Centre, Limuru, Kenya.
  5. “Enhancing livestock-wildlife coexistence in African savannas”. Presented at Connecting Minds Africa Conference 25th – 27th September 2019, World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), Nairobi, Kenya.
  6. “The value of planned grazing management in communal pastoral lands: lessons from northern Kenya”. Presented at Pathways Kenya 2016: Conference, 10th-13th January 2016, Mount Kenya Safari Club, Nanyuki, Kenya.
  7. “The value of planned grazing management in communal pastoral lands: lessons from northern Kenya”. Presented at the “Research and Monitoring in the Banni Landscape (RAMBLE) Conference, 26th-28th November 2015, Banni Research Centre, Bhuj-Kachchh, Gujarat, India.
  8. “Smart grazing for nature and enhanced pastoral livelihoods in northern Kenya”. Presented at the TNC’s All Science Conference, 9th-13th December 2013, San Jose, California.
  9. “Herding strategies that matter”. Presented at Mpala Discovery Day, Mpala Research Centre, 26th May 2012.
  10. “Competitive and facilitative effects of wildlife on cattle in an African rangeland”. Invited talk, presented at Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, and University of California, Davis, California, USA in October 2008.
  11. “The effects of wildlife on cattle in Laikipia rangeland, Kenya”. Poster presented at the Society for Conservation Biology Conference, 1-5 July 2007, Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
  12. “Samburu wildlife habitats”. Poster presented at the Earthwatch Institute Annual Conference, 3-5 November 2005, Boston, USA.
HONORS, PRIZE AND AWARDS
  1. Future Leaders African Indipendent Research Fellow, 2019
  2. NatureNet Science Fellow , 2013
  3. Award for Excellence in the Study of Conservation; Best student poster award by the Zoological Society of London at the Society for Conservation Biology Conference, 1-5 July 2007, Port Elizabeth, South Africa

 

TEACHING AREAS

Wildlife Population Dynamics

Wildlife Ecology and Behaviour

Wildlife Conservation and Management

Wildlife Diseases and Pathology

Ecological Surveys and Techniques

Wildlife Stock Assessment

Wildlife Nutrition

Research Methods

Wildlife Management

Wildlife-Human Interactions

POSTGRADUATE SUPERVISION
MASTERS LEVEL :

Completed

  1. Sherril. P. Masudi, University of Nairobi
  2. Ken Oburah, Egerton University
  3. Geoffrey W. Ole Kinga, Egerton University (Completed)
  4. Donatus E. Gadiye, Egerton University (completed)
  5. Lutta Alphayo, University of Nairobi (completed)
  6. Nahashon N. Mutua, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology (completed)

Ongoing

  1. Kimani Ngungu, Egerton University 
  2. Emily Aywa, Egerton University
  3. Loyford Kiambi, Egerton University
  4. Gerald Osuka, Egerton University
PhD. LEVEL :

Completed

  1. Margaret Mosse, Egerton University 

Ongoing

  1. Nereoh Leley, Egerton University 
  2. Peter Lokitela, Egerton University

 

OTHER SOCIETIES
  1. Association for Tropical Biology & Conservation (ATBC)
  2. Society for Range Management (SRM)
  3. Ecological Society for Eastern Africa (ESEA)
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