Kimberley Anne-Isola Nekaris

Anna Nekaris is a British anthropologist and Professor of Ecology, Conservation and Environment at Anglia Ruskin University. Previously she was a professor in primate conservation in the School of Law and Social Sciences at Oxford Brookes University. She is interested in the conservation of Asian nocturnal animals and African nocturnal primates. She was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2024 New Year Honours.

Early life and education Nekaris completed her undergraduate education at the University of Missouri, Columbia and Louis Pasteur University, where she focused on anthropology and primate conservation. She was a graduate student at the Washington University in St. Louis. She majored in anthropology, and her doctorate focused on biological anthropology. Her PhD research investigated the socioecology of the slender loris in Dindigul.

Career Nekaris has dedicated her career to the conservation of Asian nocturnal animals and African nocturnal primates. Since 2011, she has led the Little Fireface Project, which investigates the behavioural ecology of slow lorises in the wild, zoos and rescue centres, using a combination of genetics, acoustics, museum studies and taxonomy.

Nekaris worked to protect slow lorises in Java. Slow lorises are endangered because of habitat loss and the illegal wildlife trade, which involves captors clipping their teeth so their venomous teeth are no longer dangerous. Nekaris installed pipes that lorises could use as bridges, which allows them to reach new trees that they couldn't catch before. She delivered a TED talk on the influence of social media on the global population of slow lorises, and how it can both advance understanding and hinder conservation efforts.

Nekaris has explored how slow lorises use their venom.

She was elected an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2024 New Year Honours.

Publications