Alumni profile: Cedric Kai Wei Tan

Cedric Kai Wei Tan, Ph.D., is an alumnus of Green Templeton College, University of Oxford, where he served as College Advisor from 2016 till 2021, offering pastoral care to MSc, MPhil, and DPhil students in environmental and conservation fields. Known in the college community for his innovative fusion of dance and science, Cedric funded his award-winning Dance Your PhD dance videos through college support, with key scenes filmed on its grounds, blending artistry with research dissemination. He remains grateful for the nurturing environment and invaluable networking opportunities that shaped his career.

Research contributions

At WildCRU, University of Oxford (2014-2020), Cedric conducted ecological research on clouded leopards in Peninsular Malaysia, contributing to policy changes protecting Ulu Muda forest, and co-authored papers on felid habitat use in Biological Conservation and Diversity and Distributions. His studies on Southeast Asian small cats and human-wildlife interactions appeared in PeerJ, Ecology and Evolution, and Royal Society Open Science, funded by Panthera and NERC, earning the 2019 Oxford Social Impact Award.

Educational innovations

As Lecturer at WildCRU (2018-2020), Cedric developed eLearning programs for over 200 conservation managers in Asia and Africa through Starr Foundation grants, and led Wildlife Conservation Courses in Malaysia and Rwanda. He created serious games like WildCRU Game and Eco-Divo, nominated for Oxford Vice-Chancellor’s Awards (2020) and awarded the 2019 Early Career Conservationist Award from Society for Conservation Biology. At Wadham and St Catherine’s Colleges, he tutored over 150 undergraduates in ecology and quantitative methods.

Synergies in dance and leadership

A Latin dance instructor, Cedric won multiple Dance Your PhD competitions by Science journal (2011, 2013, 2016 finalist), using dance, animation, and videography to communicate research on animal behaviour and conservation, such as sperm competition and clouded leopard habitat use. Now Associate Professor at University of Nottingham Malaysia, he co-leads the MEME elephant project and digital learning initiatives, securing grants for simulations and games on human-elephant coexistence, with multiple UNM Teaching Excellence Awards (2021-2024).