Team

Lauren has loved wilderness and wildlife since she can remember and it was her curiosity about life on earth that led her to science. As a child, her attentiveness to all life, right down to scooping the ants out of the bathtub before running the water, was probably a giveaway to her family as to her career direction in conservation…

Lauren graduated with a BSc in environmental and geographical science, followed by Honours in zoology and an MSc in conservation biology at the University of Cape Town. She went on to work as a researcher at the university and became an SOSF project leader, leading a project that aimed to introduce BRUVs monitoring to South Africa’s marine protected area network and working with local conservation agencies to design methods that could be simply and effectively repeated at low cost around the coast. She then completed her PhD using remote camera methods to assess the biodiversity of South Africa’s largest bay. Her career has spanned scientific research, marine education and storytelling through film and writing. She has worked previously for the I AM WATER Foundation, where she is a current trustee, and as a lead marine biologist on the Oceans Alive project in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, for WILDOCEANS, a programme of the WILDTRUST.

As a marine biologist, Lauren has worked in some beautiful places. Her love of nature has guided her career in science and conservation, but through her research she has become increasingly aware of the challenges we face. Her approach has always been to act to secure her hope that we can build a better future. She believes that her writing can help to encourage others to become conscious of their own connections to nature. By translating science into stories, Lauren is acting on her optimism that change is possible.