Nafeesa Esmail

Community Conservation Specialist, The Wilder Institute
Shelby Dye

Prospective University of Cambridge MPhil in Conservation Leadership Postgraduate Student 2023-2024 , University of Cambridge

Experienced in driving nonprofit community engagement and development across multiple audiences for NGOs, institutions, corporations and foundations. As a storyteller, relationship builder and lifelong learner, I'm committed to understanding audiences to meet and exceed their needs. My experience across multiple organizations with vastly different strategic goals demonstrates my nimble and resilient working style, as well as my commitment to projects and functions of team strategy. I seek to address and remove barriers to conservation education in underserved communities, and work alongside community members to understand and address important, conservation, socio-economic issues.

Aliénor SCRIZZI

Programme Director, Awely, Wildlife and People

Alan J. Hesse

Freelance Conservationist, environmental educator and author-illustrator, AJH Education Comics & Cartoons

My conservation career started in 1992 when I helped set up and joined a University expedition to the Bolivian Amazon. What started out as a 3-month experience ended up being a life-changing inflection point that set my professional and personal course to the present day. My conservation experience was built bottom-up and hands-on, and includes field data collection and logistics, grassroots organization leadership and project management, community engagement and capacity building, M&E, training and behavior change, and lately climate education through authorship of graphic novels and other resources. 

Olivier Chassot

Candidate, WCPA Chair, IUCN

I was born in Switzerland, but my current home is Costa Rica where I have been living with my wife and daughter for the last 25 years. Over two decades, I have developed extensive knowledge in sustainability topics along with a wide experience in designing, fundraising, and implementing conservation biology programs, biological corridors, project planning, implementation and monitoring, the leadership of inter-institutional alliances at the national, bi-national, regional and international level, as well as in the creation of protected areas. My areas of expertise include biodiversity, landscape issues, connectivity conservation, transboundary conservation, protected areas, and World Heritage Sites, sustainable development, wildlife, governance, and ecosystem conservation. I have worked for local and international NGOs and the academy, and define myself as a passionate conservation practitioner compromised with high standards of excellence, and a team player able to build strong intercultural relationships. I love trail running, photography, reading, cooking, traveling, and meeting new people from different cultural contexts. I am fluent in French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, with limited working proficiency in German and Indonesian. I am currently learning Mandarin and Arabic.
ALEX

Veterinarian, Animal Health GD (Ministry of Agriculture)

Veterinarian specialised on wildlife management and natural areas conservation.
Annabel Morales Smith

Anthropology and Conservation Graduate , None

I have a background in Social Anthropology and recently graduated from DICE with an MSc in Conservation and Rural Development. I carried out fieldwork in Uganda for my dissertation focusing on the impacts of tourism and conservation on residents working in community-led enterprises that live around Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Prior to that I interned at Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH) a grassroots NGO focused on improving community well-being and mountain gorilla conservation using a one health approach. . I believe that securing and supporting the rights of indigenous and local people are crucial and I am passionate about environmental and social justice and interested in the political ecology of conservation, convivial conservation and bio-cultural approaches to conservation.

Beth Robinson

WildLearning Specialist, WildTeam

I'm a WildLearning Specialist with WildTeam, a bit of an odd job title. My main role is to design, deliver and organise both our online and class-based training courses. One of the best parts of my job is meeting other conservationists and learning about the work that they do. Before working for WildTeam I did a PhD in invasive plants and human-wildlife interactions. I find it really interesting to learn about the ways people interact with nature, both when nature is being wonderful, but also when it is being a bit annoying!