Nyawira Muthiga

Nyawira A. Muthiga is an African conservation zoologist who is Director of the Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association Marine Programme in Kenya. She is a conservation scientist for the Wildlife Conservation Society.

Early life and education

Muthiga was born in Kenya, and spent part of her childhood in Dar es Salaam. She earned her undergraduate degree in biological oceanography in the United States. She completed her master's degree at the Florida State University, where she studied the impact of salinity on the photosynthesis of Siderastrea siderea. Muthiga returned to Kenya for her doctoral research, where she joined the University of Nairobi.

Research and career

In 2000 Muthiga was elected President of the Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association Board of Trustees (WIOMSA). She oversaw the growth of the WIOMSA internationally, building local chapters and networks. Muthiga worked for the Kenya Wildlife Service where she led the coastal and wetland programme. In this capacity, Muthiga was made of Chair of the Kenya Sea Turtle Conservation programme. She has worked to survey hundreds of different coral reefs on the Western Indian Ocean.

Muthiga was a founder of the Wildlife Conservation Society coral reef programme, which researches and deploys programmes that can conserve coral reefs, as well as identifying novel ways to allow critical species to recover. The programme helps to protect 90% of the world's coral species and has surveyed almost 1,000 sites across the Indo-Pacific and Caribbean Sea. In 2007 Muthiga joined the World Commission on Protected Areas as the Kenya coordinator. She has argued that to preserve coral reefs, social and environmental scientists must work together. She believes that the orange-lined triggerfish may play a crucial role in maintaining health corals.

Muthiga was awarded the 2018 Banovich Wildscapes Foundation Award for Conservation Excellence (ACE) for her work on ocean conservation. In 2020 Eco Magazine named Muthiga as one of the world's top coral reef researchers.

Awards and honours

• 2005 National Geographic Society/Buffett Award for Leadership
• 2018 Award for Conservation Excellence
• 2020 Eco Magazine Top Coral Reef Researcher
• 2020 Coral Reef Conservation Award

Personal life

Muthiga is married to American marine biologist Timothy McClanahan. She met him in the 1980s, when McClanahan was on a study-abroad programme in Kenya.

Selected publications

• Hoegh-Guldberg, O.; Mumby, P. J.; Hooten, A. J.; Steneck, R. S.; Greenfield, P.; Gomez, E.; Harvell, C. D.; Sale, P. F.; Edwards, A. J.; Caldeira, K.; Knowlton, N. (2007-12-14). "Coral Reefs Under Rapid Climate Change and Ocean Acidification". Science. 318 (5857): 1737–1742. Bibcode:2007Sci...318.1737H. doi:10.1126/science.1152509. hdl:1885/28834. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 18079392. S2CID 12607336.
• Koch, Evamaria W.; Barbier, Edward B.; Silliman, Brian R.; Reed, Denise J.; Perillo, Gerardo ME; Hacker, Sally D.; Granek, Elise F.; Primavera, Jurgenne H.; Muthiga, Nyawira; Polasky, Stephen; Halpern, Benjamin S. (2009). "Non-linearity in ecosystem services: temporal and spatial variability in coastal protection". Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. 7 (1): 29–37. Bibcode:2009FrEE....7...29K. doi:10.1890/080126. hdl:11336/28652. ISSN 1540-9309. S2CID 53957452.
• McClanahan, Tim R.; Graham, Nicholas A. J.; MacNeil, M. Aaron; Muthiga, Nyawira A.; Cinner, Joshua E.; Bruggemann, J. Henrich; Wilson, Shaun K. (2011-10-11). "Critical thresholds and tangible targets for ecosystem-based management of coral reef fisheries". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 108 (41): 17230–17233. Bibcode:2011PNAS..10817230M. doi:10.1073/pnas.1106861108. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 3193203. PMID 21949381.