PhD Student Ciara Stafford is BBC Wildlife Magazine's blogger of the year!

Ciara has won the BBC Wildlife Magazine's 2016 Blogger Award for her blog Stripy Tapir! Her blog (read here) features tales and photographs from her field work in the Ecuador, as well as snippets from exploring wildlife in other parts, including the UK, Ireland, and Japan.

"Though distinctly international in scope, I hope my blog bears testament to the fact that beguiling species are never too far from home," says Ciara, University of Manchester, who is in the final year of her PhD on primate conservation in the Ecuadorian Amazon.

James Fair, environment editor of BBC Wildlife Magazine and one of the judges tasked with choosing this year's winners, said "Ciara has genuine expertise to impart to readers AND writes a neat blog which is informative, and gently humorous".

In 2016 Ciara also won two categories (Ecosystems and Communities and Up Close and Personal student winner) in the British Ecological Society's annual photography contest.