Laura Lancomme, PhD

Biography

I am a conservation biologist with a background spanning environmental management, ecology, and evolution. After completing a MSc at AgroParisTech focused on environmental management and business performance, I pursued a second MSc at the University of Lyon, where I investigated links between stress, sex hormone levels, and parasite load in Asian elephants. I later completed my PhD jointly with the University of Lyon and Nelson Mandela University, examining how ecological and management factors shape the biology and behaviour of wild African elephants across different conservation systems. This research contributed to the development of a multidimensional welfare indicator for South African elephant populations.

I am currently a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Cumbria within Professor Robert Montgomery's group, where I coordinate the Uganda research programme in Murchison Falls National Park. My work aims to experimentally quantify the non-consumptive effects of human predation and assess how these pressures influence spatial food web dynamics in a multi-predator–prey system. In this context, I focus specifically on the genetic, physiological and ecological responses of large carnivores to varying wire snare densities across the landscape. By combining field experiments, biological sampling, spatial analyses and statistical modelling, my research examines how chronic exposure to human harvesting pressure alters stress and reproductive physiology, diet overlap, and population-level processes. Through this research, I seek to advance our understanding of human–wildlife interactions and support evidence-based conservation strategies that promote both biodiversity and ecosystem resilience.

Qualifications and memberships

PhD Conservation biology, Claude Bernard Lyon 1 University (2020-2024). Thesis: Towards a multidimensional indicator uof the wlefare of African Savanna elephants.

MSc Ecology, Evolution, Genomics, Claude Bernard Lyon 1 University (2019-2020). Thesis: Association between gastrointestinal infection and hormones in Asian elephants.

MSc Engineering degree, Environmental management, innovation and business performance, AgroParisTech (2015-2019). Thesis: NGO-business partnerships: Green alliances to transform markets.