I work for Conservation Nation we are a new non-profit that relaunched in late 2021 after a long, prior history of being Friends of the National Zoo in Washington, DC. I head up the marketing and communications along with running the grants program. Our focus is helping to make the conservation field accessible to a broader group of people and amplify those voices through our grants, education and outreach programs. My background is in program management, marketing and communications but my passion has always been in conservation and I've had the opportunity to volunteer for several conservation organizations. My two parallel paths have intersected with my role at Conservation Nation.

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.

As Head of Communications at Whitley Fund for Nature, I am responsible for leading the organisation’s communications strategy, using the charity’s platform to spread awareness about Whitley Award winners across WFN’s website and social media. I lead on campaigns, and support across the charity’s PR and events to raise the profile of Whitley Award winners. I'm also a Trustee of Born Free Foundation, and I founded The Wildlife Blogger Crowd in 2020; a virtual network of over 250 bloggers, social media influencers, podcasters, and filmmakers. In 2021, I published a book of our collective works, ‘Connections With Nature’.

I lead on the Whitley Fund for Nature's Network Development programme, supporting and creating connections among the 200-strong global network to foster knowledge exchange and collaboration, and strengthen capacity. Previous to this role, I worked for Galapagos Conservation Trust for over seven years across project management and operations/finance. I hold an MSc in Conservation Science from Imperial College London. I am passionate about habitat restoration, the conservation of endemic species and inspiring the next generation of conservation leaders.

I have over 30 years of experience of species conservation and protected area management; human–wildlife conflict mitigation; countering the illegal wildlife trade; conservation-related research; biodiversity surveys; monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL); impact evaluation; and wildlife policy formulation, including the writing and implementation of action plans. Much of my time since 1988 has been spent in Asia and, from 2007, Asia and Africa. I spent the 1990s living and working in protected areas in Java, advising on their management with a particular focus on ungulates, wild dogs, and leopards. From 1998, I focused on elephants, particularly on the development of reliable monitoring methods, human–elephant conflict mitigation, and, since 2004, the ivory trade and the illegal killing of elephants. I worked for the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) for 18 years, working to conserve elephants in partnership with other NGOs, communities, and governments, and ultimately coordinating WCS’s elephant conservation work in Asia and Africa. In February 2018, I co-founded the NGO, Asian Arks, and served as its CEO until September 2020 with the aim of replicating and extending models of directly managing protected areas under long-term agreements with governments and communities, which the NGO African Parks and others have shown to be successful. From early 2018, I also worked as an independent consultant, partly to support the work of Asian Arks, which as a start-up was unable to pay for full-time staff. Consultancy projects completed include advising the Government of Mozambique on CITES policy, development of a threat monitoring protocol for protected areas and biodiversity offset sites in the Lao PDR, and a human–elephant conflict mitigation strategy for the Government of Gabon. Since December 2021, I have been employed by ZSL to lead the development of a robust conservation planning process to help ZSL’s teams design effective and adaptive long-term conservation strategies and deliver conservation impact.

I'm a natural resource ecologist and transformative social entrepreneur with more than five years of experience working with diverse communities and stakeholders in Kenya. I'm currently a Co-Founder and the Director of Strategy and Business Development at EcoHope Africa. EcoHope Africa is a women founded and led social startup venture devoted to shifting the conservation paradigm in Africa by leveraging nature-based investments and solutions to leverage social justice in Africa. Additionally, I'm a Conservation Catalyst for WildHub where my role is to catalyze the sharing of lessons learnt among WildHub members. I hold a Master of Research (MRes.) in Biodiversity, Evolution and Conservation from the University College London (UCL) and a Bachelor of Science (BSc.) in Range Management from the University of Nairobi. I have considerable experience working in community-based conservation initiatives in different parts of Kenya including Maasai Mara, Tsavo, and the Coast. My expertise is in the optimization of the Human-Wildlife interface to ensure sustainable utilization of natural resources and harmonious coexistence of nature and man. I'm also an amateur birder 🐦 and a novice poet 🖋.

Affordable, flexible and sociable online learning in technical skills for conservation and open education.  Support for virtual and hybrid conferences and events

Indoor or outdoor, as long as I'm working for nature I'm happy! I currently work as a Programs Coordinator with The Thin Green Line Foundation, drawing on my past experiences working in the field to help Rangers globally. Our work focusses on providing Training, Equipment, Emergency Aid and Networking Opportunities for the people working on the frontlines of conservation. As a former Ranger myself, I adore being outside and connecting others with nature. Personally, I have interests in community development and capacity building, the interface between conservation science and environmental policy, and rewilding! I'm a keen birder and hill-walker, currently exploring Victoria, Australia.

Have been involved in a variety of projects - Javan Silvery Gibbon, Tigers in India, and more recently water vole conservation in the UK. Currently run a landscape wide wetland restoration project in West Sussex on the south coast of the UK with water voles in mind but would love to just throw in a couple of European beavers and my job would be done!

Senior third sector manager with more than twenty years’ experience in international wildlife conservation, 15 of which in a management and leadership role. My focus has been on driving individual capacity development programmes (conservation leadership, facilitation etc.), institutional capacity building of NGOs, multi-stakeholder collaborations, conservation education and conservation programme development.