1. What do you study related to biodiversity (what are your research questions, what organisms do you work on)?
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 I am currently researching the ecological correlates of mane development among lions (Panthera leo)—including geographic patterns throughout the historic distributional range of the lion. In addition, for the past two years I have been participating in faunal surveys of bird and mammal diversity in the Himalayan country of Bhutan. While this project encompasses a wide range of goals, there is a primary emphasis on the training of scientists from that country in the methodologies of field surveys, including the development and maintenance of natural history research collections and taxidermy exhibits.
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2. How do you study biodiversity (for example, what technological tools and methodologies do you use in your research)?
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Nothing hi-tech. Mostly I incorporate traditional data collecting techniques in the field, including studying museum specimens housed at natural history institutions for comparative studies and by reviewing historical literature.
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3. Where do you study biodiversity?
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Africa (mostly but not exclusively East Africa), and Asia (Bhutan).
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4. How might your research have implications for biological conservation?
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 In collaboration with Julian Kerbis Peterhans and Kenyan Scientists Ogeto Mwebi and Samuel Andanje studying human-carnivore conflict in Kenya, our research has a direct application to conservation efforts focused on preserving the worlds remaining, but fast diminishing lion populations. Steadily increasing human populations coupled with the ever-increasing availability of firearms, ammunition, and poisons has contributed to a massive reduction in wild lion populations over the last 200 years.
By distinguishing facts from local traditions and beliefs regarding lions, we can help communities focus on the actual issues surrounding conflicts between humans and wildlife (which are often the consequence of human induced change). We hope that our collective research efforts with other Field Museum colleagues and Kenyan researchers will eventually have a positive influence on management decisions when dealing with these issues that are common where wildlife still persists.
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5. How did you become interested in science? What made you want to be a scientist, and how did you get to The Field Museum?
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As a young child, I and my family paid frequent visits to the Field Museum. Since that time I have been interested in natural history and scientific exploration, and have become especially interested in the process of evolution and patterns of biodiversity. I was determined from a young age to pursue a career somehow related to this discipline.
As a student at Chicago's Art Institute, I came to the Field Museum to study physical anatomy of birds and mammals in order to improve my art work. I became a volunteer in the Bird and Mammal Divisions which eventually led to full time job as the Bird Division's preparator.Two years later, I took part in my first field trips to the fabled Mountains of the Moon, the Rwenzori Mts of western Uganda. In 1997, the museum provided me with the chance to follow my first interest—lions. With museum and Kenyan colleagues, I helped to locate the long lost den of the infamous man-eating lions of Tsavo.
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6. Describe important collaborations for your scientific endeavors (describe your work with other researchers, organizations, or scientific groups, local or indigenous peoples, etc.)
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I continue to assist numerous colleagues both at the Field Museum and from other scientific institutions in their field studies and lend my skills as a field researcher and instructor, in projects in Asia, Africa and the Neotropics.
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