Annabel Morales-Smith

Annabel has felt a deep connection to the natural world from a young age and is passionate about sharing her love of the nature with others. After gaining customer service experience in the tourism and travel industry she completed a masters in Conservation and Rural Development at the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology which combined her passion for the environment with her degree in Anthropology as she explored the interface between social and ecological systems.

She is passionate about the human dimensions of conservation and is especially interested in the ability of sustainable wildlife tourism to increase awareness of species conservation as well as respect for local cultures and the environment. She spent three months working on a grass roots Mountain Gorilla conservation project with local communities in Uganda and went on to carry out her own research looking at the impacts of Mountain Gorilla tourism in this area. Her long-standing love of animals also led to an internship in Borneo involving Orangutan rescue and rehabilitation and volunteering positions at various wildlife rescues in the UK.

She has also fostered a profound love of ornithology and wildlife photography and enjoys nothing more than going out with her binoculars and camera and being outdoors immersed in nature especially in her local area of Kent which is a fantastic migration hot spot with its diversity of coastlines and habitats.