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jestina@udsm.ac.tz, jestina.katandukila2@gmail.com

Jestina is a senior lecturer at the Department of Zoology and Wildlife Conservation within the College of Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Dar Es Salaam (UDSM). She has been a member of staff at UDSM since 2007. She was employed at the University of Dar es Salaam as a tutorial assistant from January 2007 to early 2009 and then promoted to the position of an assistant lecturer from 2009 to June 2014.  From July 2014 she was promoted to a Lecturer position whereas in September 2022 was promoted to Senior Lecturer.  Jestina conferred a Bachelor of Science Degree in Zoology and Wildlife Sciences in 2005 and a Master of Science in Wildlife Ecology in 2009, both degrees were obtained from the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.  Jestina has awarded number of certificates of excellence by the University of Dar es Salaam that are certificate of being a best student amongst students majoring Zoology subjects (academic year 2003 and 2004), best student in Wildlife field courses (academic year 2003 and 2004) and a best overall third year student in Zoology and marine biology (academic year 2004 and 2005). Following her master’s degree, she enrolled for a PhD in Zoology in 2010 at the University of Pretoria, Republic of South Africa.  After successful completion of her PhD in year 2014, she was awarded a Postdoctoral position at the University of Pretoria from 2015 to 2017.

Jestina has acquired diverse skills and knowledge through her academic path including epidemiology, reproductive physiology, morphometrics, captive ecology, zoonotic diseases, ecosystem healthy, population genetics and behavioural ecology. She is also an expert in population analyses with more experience in wild mammals. She extensively worked on subterranean rodents from Tanzania and managed to publish number of articles in highly accredited Journals. Jestina is also an expert in transboundary conservation aspects such as community-based conservation and human-wildlife conflicts.