Dr Christos Astaras

Diploma Course Coordinator and Lead Tutor

Originally from Thessaloniki, Greece, I obtained a BA in Conservation Biology from Middlebury College, Vermont (1999) and subsequently a Masters in Environmental Studies from York University, Toronto (2002), after working as a secondary school science teacher for a year. My MES research was on the development of a buffer zone management plan for Los Cusingos Bird Sanctuary, Costa Rica, in collaboration with local coffee farming communities.

For my doctoral studies at the Centre for Nature Conservation of Göttingen University, Germany, I spent 2006-2008 in the rainforest of Korup National Park, Cameroon, studying the ecology and conservation status of the endangered drill monkey (Mandrillus leucophaeus). During this time I collaborated on a nation-wide survey of the drill in Cameroon.

I joined the WildCRU team in 2010, taking the role of lead tutor and coordinator for the Recanati-Kaplan Centre Post Graduate Diploma in International Wildlife Conservation Practice. Alongside my teaching duties, I remain involved in capacity training, wildlife conservation and protected area management in Greece and the rainforest zone of Africa. Most recently, I am collaborating with SAVE Wildlife Conservation Fund and colleagues from James Madison University and Cornell University on a project to examine the efficacy of anti-poaching patrols in protected areas using novel acoustic monitoring methods.

Publications

Ting, N., Astaras, C., Gail, H., Honarvar, S., Corush, J., Burrel, A., Phillips, N., Morgan, B., Gadsby, E., Raaum, R., Roos, C. (In Press). Genetic signatures of a demographic collapse in a large-bodied forest dwelling primate (Mandrillus leucophaeus). Ecology and Evolution.

Astaras, C., Krause, S., Mattner, L., Rehse, C., Waltert, C. (2011). Associations between the drill (Mandrillus leucophaeus) and sympatric primate species in Korup National Park, Cameroon. American Journal of Primatology 73:127-134.

Astaras, C., Waltert, M. (2010). What does seed handling by the drill tell us about the ecological services of terrestrial cercopithecines in African forests? Animal Conservation 13:568-578.

Astaras, C., Mühlenberg, M., Waltert, M. (2008). Note on drill (Mandrillus leucophaeus) ecology and conservation status in Korup National Park, Southwest Cameroon. American Journal of Primatology 70:306-310.

Applied Wildlife Conservation, Primate Ecology, Protected Area Management, Sustainable Livelihoods and the Bushmeat Trade.