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Francesca Cunninghame

Principal Investigator - Mangrove Finch

Francesca has been involved in bird conservation since her youth. She began working as the leader of the Mangrove Finch Project in November 2009, tasked with coordinating and leading conservation efforts for the most threatened bird in the Galápagos. Francesca has maintained an active interest in bird conservation since her school days and has participated in conservation management projects involving a range of different threatened species. She pursued her interest by studying Ecology and Zoology at the University of Otago (Dunedin, New Zealand), completing a postgraduate diploma in wildlife management and a master's degree in zoology. After living on the islands from 2009 to 2016, she has been based in New Zealand, working part-time to coordinate the project and participate in field conservation actions. She is also a Ph.D. student, analyzing the last 14 years of mangrove finch data in hopes of finding answers to better protect the species.