Hi everyone, my name is Vicki Villanova and I have my BS in Zoology from the University of Florida and my MS in Biology from the University of Central Florida. My early career was heavily focused on conservation and population genetics in fish, African crocodiles, and the endangered Florida Key deer. After grad school I worked for 6 years at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium as their Conservation Genetics Lab Manager. At Omaha Zoo I fell in love with lemurs and capacity building in Madagascar. I have extensive experience in grants management, including European Union grants. Currently, I am the Development Associate for the Conservation Centers for Species Survival and I started with this nonprofit in May of this year. We are working to expand our programs and communication and looking forward to where the rest of the year takes us.
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A warm welcome to WildHub, Vicki! Wonderful to have you join us and thank you for sharing about your background. What kind of capacity building work did you do in Madagascar?
Exciting times for you only a few months into your new job! I also read that you are happy to share your insights with our community, so I am pleased to connect you to our Conservation Catalyst @Anne Mauro who could help you share these insights.
Perhaps of interest to you could be our WildHub Community Advocate role here, which can be a great experience for networking as well as shaping and supporting the conversations in our global community.
Let us know if you have any questions.
Absolutely! During my time working with Madagascar Biodiversity Partnership, I worked closely with the accounting team in the main office in Antananarivo and with a Field Station Accountant in Kianjavato, just outside Ranomafana. During my last year at a half, I was working with the accounting team to migrate their accounting system from Microsoft Excel to QuickBooks Online. I also worked closely with them so they could take over all the financial reporting for our grants. This work with the Malagasy accounting team led me to start working on my MBA with a certificate in financial analytics in hopes I could volunteer with grassroots nonprofits in other countries and improve their financial structure in the long term.
Hello Vicki! Welcome to Wildhub
Your background in conservation and population genetics is impressive, and it’s wonderful to hear about your work with lemurs and capacity building in Madagascar. Your experience with grants management and your current role with the Conservation Centers for Species Survival sounds like a perfect fit for advancing conservation efforts.
I'm excited to connect and learn more about your projects and the impact you're making in the field! 🌟
Welcome @Vicki Villanova ! I am so excited to have you on board. Your career journey sounds interesting and I can't wait to talk to you more about it.