Andrea Schnetler-Niddrie

Andrea is the Cape Leopard Trust’s Conservation Coordinator. Her interest in nature and the outdoors developed at a very young age, but her specific interest in the broader field of conservation was fuelled while completing a Certificate in Advanced Game Ranging and Lodge Management. Andrea went on to study a National Diploma in Nature Conservation at Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), completing her in-service year at Helderberg Nature Reserve.

Following a BTech degree in Nature Conservation, Andrea went on to complete a Master of Conservation Science degree which made use of camera trapping to investigate medium and large mammal species still surviving in City of Cape Town (CCT) nature reserves. These skills, combined with several years’ experience as a part-time veterinary clinic receptionist, secured her an internship as a Veterinary Research Assistant with the CCT’s Biodiversity Management Branch. Here she gained experience in a wide variety of fauna monitoring, management and conflict mitigation programmes, as well as general conservation management activities across the municipality. Andrea has also been a part-time lecturer at CPUT for various Nature Conservation diploma subjects and is a volunteer wildland firefighter in her spare time.

Andrea is passionate about bridging the gap between academic research and practical conservation, and believes strongly in the power of knowledge sharing. Andrea joined the CLT team in October 2022 and focuses on the facilitation of creative, integrated and practical solutions for improving leopard conservation and human-wildlife conflict mitigation in collaboration with communities and conservation partners.