HELLO! I’M LILA AFIFI

I am an early career conservation geneticist, with experience in population genetics of scattered tree species, metabarcoding and systematics of magnolia species, metagenomics of hot spring archaea, and behavioral ecology of spotted hyenas. Ever since I can remember I have been camping in, exploring, and learning about national parks in the USA and I want to share my passion for wildlife. Growing up in Monterey, CA I hold special appreciation for coastal ecosystems, but grasslands and forests hold my heart. In the past few years I've begun expanding into the field of amateur photography in an effort to share my adoration of wildlife with the general public, both scientists and nonscientists. I spent 2019 in Kenya conducting fieldwork on spotted hyenas and summer of 2020 as a bee and Beech Bark Disease researcher at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in Michigan, and currently I am pursuing my PhD in Vienna studying conservation genetics of Rosaceae trees. My goal is to help conserve all of the beautiful and natural areas of our world, and to share my passion with the public through my photography simultaneously.