Last week, Mpala Research Centre convened a workshop funded by the Smithsonian Institution to shape the scientific agenda for rhino range expansion in Kenya. With the leadership of Francesca Vitali of the Smithsonian Institution and a dedicated steering committee, Mpala convened researchers, conservation practitioners, government representatives and NGOs with relevant knowledge.
Our board partners, the Kenya Wildlife Service and the Wildlife Research and Training Institute, provided important national context for the development of rhino research priorities as rhino range expansion is discussed across Laikipia. The discussions centered on critical themes such as population viability, wildlife health, and human-wildlife coexistence.
Leveraging its deep institutional expertise in the landscape, Mpala facilitated this essential interdisciplinary dialogue and exchange across sectors. By synthesizing these diverse perspectives, the workshop highlighted the importance of coordinated research, adaptive management, and shared scientific priorities in informing conservation decision-making.
We are grateful to all partners, experts, and participants for contributing their expertise and perspectives to this collaborative effort.
#MpalaResearchCentre #ConservationScience
Princeton alumni who have worked/studied/ visited Mpala, we hope to see you at the African Alumni Reunions event on May 21 behind the Louis A Simpson building. Link to register in bio or copy here: /forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSev1WuhZDoHyesMoKJPcvzMLtusEmDt2RXthIVHYECuy4UZiA/viewform
Inside the labs at Mpala Research Centre, the boundary between human health and wildlife conservation disappears. 🔬🦓
Our time at @mpalarc as part of our Conservation SIE redefined how we view "One Health." By studying the transmission of parasites and diseases between species, we gained a front-row seat to the complex biological relationships that define human-wildlife interaction. But the innovation didn't stop at the microscope. From harnessing a massive solar grid to power world-class research, fueling our own passion for green energy, to exploring the ancient Purunkai Caves, we saw how conservation must be rooted in both future technology and indigenous history.
Can a research hub become a sustainable tourism engine? After witnessing these scenic vistas and Maasai heritage sites, the answer is a resounding yes.
#MpalaResearch #laikipiaSIE2026
#greenenergy #conservationscience #alusowc
At Mpala Research Centre, instruments built for tectonic shifts are now listening for something lighter on its feet.
Elephants produce low-frequency rumbles that travel through the soil as seismic waves, often farther than sound moving through air.
By pairing seismic data with camera traps and acoustic monitors, researchers can track how herds move and coordinate across the landscape.
Monitoring endangered populations in real time, without disturbing them.
#MpalaWorks #AfricasLivingLaboratory
On the savanna, weather is more than small talk. Rainfall shapes grass growth, temperature affects animal movement, and changing winds can signal a shift in the day’s activity.
At Mpala, researchers track these patterns closely, because understanding weather helps us understand wildlife. From grazing herds to migrating birds, the rhythms of the atmosphere shape life across Africa’s Living Laboratory.
Happy World Meteorological Day. Today we’re forecasting curiosity, discovery, and maybe a few clouds of dust on the horizon.
#MpalaWorks #AfricasLivingLaboratory #WorldMeteorologicalDay #SavannaScience
Last week, Mpala’s Vulturine Guineafowl team spent a full day at Daraja Academy unpacking the social lives of these brilliantly blue birds, the largest species of guineafowl in East Africa.
Students traced anatomy. Movement. Group structure and collective decision-making.
They learned how, over eight years, the project has tracked more than 2,000 birds, with over 400 fitted with solar-powered GPS tags, with the data revealing how these birds coordinate and survive in semi-arid savanna.
#MpalaWorks #AfricasLivingLaboratory
Today is for the striped.
The spotted.
The long-necked.
The sharp-toothed.
The quiet ones who vanish into grass.
The bold ones who stare straight back.
Across 48,000 acres of Laikipia, this is home.
Some have been here longer than any of us.
Some are endangered.
Some are louder than they look.
All of them are present.
Happy World Wildlife Day from Africa’s Living Laboratory.
#WorldWildlifeDay #WWD2026 #WorldWildlifeDay2026 #MpalaWorks #AfricasLivingLaboratory
Strapped to trees across 48,000 acres of Laikipia, Africa's Living Laboratory camera traps don't get tired. They don't spook the wildlife. They don't need chai at 3 AM while watching the chui.
They just wait. And when something moves, they click.
For one project alone, more than 70 cameras captured millions of images over five years. Each one a data point. Together, they built Kenya's first empirical leopard census and caught everything else moving through the dark that nobody expected to find.
#MpalaWorks #AfricasLivingLaboratory
In a world where ecosystems are changing faster than we can measure them, baselines matter.
The ForestGEO plot at Mpala tracks every woody plant with a diameter greater than 1 cm across 52 hectares, measuring, mapping, and monitoring how savanna structure responds to rainfall, herbivory, and fire over decades.
This isn't just data for Mpala. It's part of a global network of forest plots that serves as the control group for a planet in flux.
When the world asks, "How are savannas changing?" we have the answer. Because we've been measuring for the past 30 years.
#MpalaWorks #AfricasLivingLaboratory
For 31 years, the Kenya Long-term Exclosure Experiment (KLEE) has asked a deceptively simple question. What happens when you separate the variables?
Using semi-permeable fences, we exclude different combinations of cattle, wildlife, and mega-herbivores (elephants and giraffes) from 18 four-hectare plots. Then we observe how the soil, plants, insects, birds, and the ecosystem respond.
Why manipulate nature to study it? Because correlation isn't causation. To understand what's actually driving change, you need to isolate the parts.
Fire plus cattle. Wildlife without elephants. Drought across all treatments.
Over the last three decades, KLEE has produced 200+ publications, making it Africa's most productive field experiment.
#MpalaWorks #AfricasLivingLaboratory
When livestock is lost to predators, communities need answers, not assumptions.
At Mpala, researchers use DNA analysis to identify which individual lion was involved. Genetic samples collected at the kill site can be matched to known lions, replacing guesswork with evidence.
Why does this matter? Because coexistence depends on precision.
Not all lions attack livestock. By identifying specific individuals, conflict-mitigation efforts can be targeted, protecting herds without penalizing entire lion populations.
By linking GPS-collared lions, solar-tagged cattle, and DNA evidence, science replaces conflict with coexistence.
#MpalaWorks #AfricasLivingLaboratory
In the wild, independence is usually the safest strategy. But dik-diks choose differently.
These small antelopes form lifelong monogamous bonds. One pair, one territory, together until death. They mark their boundaries as a unit. They raise their young side by side. They defend each other from predators.
And when one partner dies? The surviving dik-dik often stops defending itself. Grief, loneliness, and the loss of a co-pilot can be fatal.
Why risk so much for partnership? Because in a dangerous world, two vigilant pairs of eyes, two voices calling alarm, and absolute trust can mean survival.
Love, it turns out, is a survival strategy.
Happy Valentine's Day from Mpala.
#MpalaWorks #AfricasLivingLaboratory #ValentinesDay
