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Godefroy de Bruyne
Technical Assistant : Community Fishing
Godefroy first came to Gabon in 2012, as a two-year international solidarity volunteer (VSI) with WCS Gabon. He was based at the Mayumba project in southern Gabon in the Nyanga Province, and worked on sustainable management approaches for traditional fishing, in collaboration with the local national and international fishermen, as well as the local authorities. Prior to this, he conducted several studies for aquatic systems management in France, both for the private and public sector. Following five years of academic studies he gained a Masters in Water and Aquatic Systems Management from the University of Marseilles in 2010. Since 2013, he officially joined the WCS team, as technical assistant on traditional fishing, and is still based in Mayumba. As part of this, he has more recently been focusing on shark and ray conservation.
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Harri Washington
Technical Assistant : Mandrills
Harri joined WCS at the beginning of 2013 to coordinate the relaunching of the mandrill ecotourism project in Lopé National Park. She has previously worked in Madagascar in various roles, particularly focusing on biodiversity and habitat surveys, as well as supporting in-the-field and technical training of university and school students. Recent UK-based projects include the development of a framework for measuring the effectiveness of conservation attention at a species level, with the Zoological Society of London. She studied at the University of Bath and Imperial College London to attain a BSc in Natural Sciences and an MSc in Conservation Science, respectively.”
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Hélène Blanchard
Technical Assistant : GIS
After completing a Masters program in "Managing habitats and watersheds" at the Faculty of Rennes in 2011, Helen first came to Gabon with WCS as a French volunteer in 2011. She provided technical support to the Gabon program on Geographic Information System (GIS) issues. Following her voluntary position Helen continued to work for WCS, and since June 2013 she is Technical Assistant on the aerial surveillance program where she prepares monitoring protocols, organizes flights, and compiles reports for the project partners. Helen is also part of the SMART team where she provides technical support on the management of the law enforcement monitoring database.
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Hugo Rainey
Senior Technical Advisor - Seascape
Hugo Rainey has been studying wildlife since a very young age and has worked in many parts of Africa and Asia. He has a particular love for African birds and mammals and has surveyed them across the continent. Hugo completed his PhD on the interactions of African hornbills with predators and primates at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. Following this, he started work for WCS as director of Lac Télé Community Reserve which lies in the world’s largest swamp forest in Republic of Congo. During his four years in the swamps he was a leading member of the WCS team which found over 125,000 gorillas in northern Congo. After this he led management of the Northern Plains landscape in Cambodia for WCS for four years. Most recently, Hugo spent two years with The Biodiversity Consultancy in Cambridge providing strategic advice to some of the world’s largest companies. This has included supporting mitigation of impacts of extractive industry projects on biodiversity across Africa and developing policy on corporate best practice for biodiversity management. Hugo has published over 20 peer-reviewed papers on the conservation and ecology of wildlife and habitats in Africa and Asia. His scientific background as well as his practical skills are important components of the experience he brings to WCS as a Conservationist.
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Martin Hega
Project Director : Monts de Cristal
Martin grew up in the town of Lambarene. The River Ogooue passes through this town, forming a labyrinth of impressive lakes. His passion for conservation comes from this magnificent environment in which he lived, before pursuing further studies in Natural Sciences (Geologie), including at the prestigious University of Kent in England. A passionate defender of the environment, committed to biodiversity conservation by engaging local communities at all stages, he is currently the WCS Gabon Mont Cristal Project Director. He is determined that at the end of his professional life with WCS and later in old age, the world is still biodiversity rich as a legacy for the next generations.
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Mike Fay
Principal Technical Adviser
A WCS senior conservationist, National Geographic Society Explorer-in-Residence, and special adviser to the President of Gabon, Mike Fay has dedicated much of his life to studying and protecting African wildlife. In May 2013, following a brutal elephant slaughter in the Central African Republic (CAR), he helped facilitate discussions between the leaders of Gabon and CAR to stop the poaching.
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Mike Zue
Director : Human Resources
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Modeste Mengue
Project Director : Ivindo
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Narcisse Moukoumou
Project Director : Loango
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Olivia Scholtz
Technical Assistant : Forest landscape
Olivia has a diverse conservation background covering tropical ecology, practical conservation, and inventorying and monitoring in Africa, South America and Australia, spanning 15 years. She has a Masters in Biodiversity and Taxonomy from the Imperial College, and a PhD with the Natural History Museum, London and University of Plymouth, both focusing on termite ecology and evolution. She first came to Gabon in 2008 to carry out field work for her doctorate, based at the Langoue field site in Ivindo National Park. So overwhelmed by the Gabon's forests, she ended up staying, working initially as the Langoue site manager with WCS. Since then she has been coordinating a number of WCS' wildlife monitoring programmes on the forest landscape, and is also involved in projects to identify High Conservation Value Forests.
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