Winnie Kiiru

Winnie Kiiru is a Kenyan biologist, elephant conservationist. She is the founder and past Executive Director of CHD Conservation Kenya, a CBO based in Amboseli that supports people-centered conservation.

Education In 1995, Kiiru earned a Master's degree from the University of Zimbabwe in Tropical Resource Ecology and a PhD in biology from the University of Kent in Canterbury. Dr. Kiiru is a past member the Wildlife Research Training Institute in Kenya. Kiiru served as a trustee of the Kenya Wildlife Service and the Amboseli Trust for Elephants.

Kiiru helped persuade the Kenyan government to publicly burn ivory tusks, and a video of the burning featured in the 2018 film Anthropocene: The Human Epoch. In 2021, Kiiru received the State Honour “Order of the Grand Warrior” in recognition of her leadership in conservation.