George Lohay is a Tanzania Biologist with 10+ years of work experience in the field of wildlife conservation in Tanzania. George is currently a research scientist at RISE from June 2023. Before joining RISE, George was a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Biology Department at Penn State University. He was working on population genetics of the Masai Giraffe in Tanzania, a collaborative project between Penn State and Wild Nature Institute. George earned his Ph.D. in Biology from Penn State University in 2019. His research focused on genetic connectivity of African Savannah Elephants in Tanzania. George is passionate about restoration of wildlife corridors in Tanzania which have been critically affected by human activities because of habitat loss and fragmentation. With his role at Grumeti Fund, George will apply his research, leadership, and mentorship skills to support RISE programs and graduate students by providing supervisory and logistical support to existing graduate student fellows, to produce high quality scientific output and help expand programs that support the advancement of researchers and women within the conservation sector.