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Olly Griffin
Forest Carbon Technical Advisor
Olly has an MSc in Conservation Science from Imperial College London, and has experience working in conservation projects in Madagascar, central Africa, and south-east Asia. In his current role he manages WCS Cambodia's REDD+ portfolio: supporting landscape teams in the design of project interventions to ensure alignment with the project’s theory of change; engaging in the national REDD+ policy process; developing the necessary project documentation to ensure project registration and/or verification of credits from both the Northern Plains and KSWS REDD projects according to the requirements of the VCS and CCB Standards; monitoring and reporting on project progress; and liaising with outside marketing partners for the sale of project credits.
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Alexis Obiang
Technical Assistant : LEM
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Angela Formia
Sea Turtle Partnership Coordinator & Regional Sea Turtle Coordinator
Angela Formia has been working on sea turtle research and conservation in the Gulf of Guinea since she began her PhD work in 1998, which focused on the conservation genetics of green turtles in the region. Since 2003 she has been involved with WCS' efforts to strengthen the sea turtle projects in Gabon (as well as in Equatorial Guinea, Congo and Ivory Coast), and has been coordinating the Gabon Sea Turtle Partnership since its creation in 2005. Dr Formia's work is focused particularly on describing and protecting Gabon's nesting leatherback population, as well as the olive ridleys, green turtles and hawksbills occuring along Gabon's coastline. Study of the spatial and temporal overlap between sea turtle distributions and the threats to which they are vulnerable is helping inform management strategies and establishment of protection measures for these endangered species. Since 2003 she has been involved with WCS' efforts to strengthen the sea turtle projects in Gabon (as well as in Equatorial Guinea, Congo and Ivory Coast), and has been coordinating the Gabon Sea Turtle Partnership since its creation in 2005. Dr Formia's work is focused particularly on describing and protecting Gabon's nesting leatherback population, as well as the olive ridleys, green turtles and hawksbills occuring along Gabon's coastline. Study of the spatial and temporal overlap between sea turtle distributions and the threats to which they are vulnerable is helping inform management strategies and establishment of protection measures for these endangered species.
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Charleine Abayi
Director : Operations
Charleine gained a Masters 2 in Project Management in 2009. She was first recruited by WCS Gabon in 2009 as a Technical Assistant on the Marine Program (Congo Basin Coast), where she assisted researchers on whale surveys around Pongara National Park. She subsequently held the position of Project Director on the Marine Program, over-seeing project management and administration. Since February 2014, she is Director of the Operations and Logistics Department of WCS Gabon, where she manages day-to-day operations, equipment purchasing, infrastructure maintenance and construction, and development and control of standard procedures in the Operations Department.
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Diane Savarit
Technical Assistant : Gabon coast and marine
After obtaining a Masters in Water and Aquatic Systems Management from the University of Aix-Marseille III in France, Diane worked on a number of aquatic system projects for both the private and public sector. She came to Gabon in 2013 as Technical Assistant on WCS' Mayumba project, where she provides technical support in developing and/or overseeing several projects, including whale and marine mammal monitoring, and the assessment of hydrocarbon pollution from off-shore petroleum platforms and pipelines.
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Emma J Stokes
Regional Advisor and Conservation Scientist
Emma has over 15 years experience of conservation science and management in tropical forests, with a focus on large mammal ecology and population status. She has conducted fieldwork on apes in Indonesia, Uganda and Republic of Congo, and coordinated landscape-scale implementation of conservation assessment and wildlife monitoring programs for apes and elephants in Northern Congo and for tigers across South-East Asia. She played an instrumental role in the first regional conservation action plan for chimpanzees and gorillas in West Equatorial Africa in 2005 and documented new ape populations in Northern Congo in 2006 that revised the global estimate for western lowland gorillas. Her skills include scientific design and application of management-focused biodiversity monitoring programs and strategic evaluation of conservation outcomes, with a focus on law enforcement effectiveness. She holds a degree in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University and a PhD in cognitive ecology from the University of St Andrews. She has worked for the Wildlife Conservation Society since 1999. Emma is currently based in Gabon as a regional advisor on conservation effectiveness for WCS programs in Africa, and on law enforcement monitoring for WCS globally.
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Emmanuel Chartrain
Technical Assistant : Commerical Fishing
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Eric Arnhem
Nouabale-Ndoki National Park Director
Eric arrived in WCS Gabon's team in 2014 where he currently manages activities across the Terrestrial Landscsape Conservation Program. With a background in biology, Eric was awarded a Ph.D. thesis on the impact of logging on large mammals in Central Africa. Eager to put theory into practice, since 2007 he worked on wildlife management issues in logging concessions. Within the program, he applies the saying « we protect only what we love and we love only what we know » by working on the three strategic themes of WCS Gabon that are: 1 Scientific Research, 2 Law Enforcement Monitoring and 3 Environmental Education and Capacity Building.
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Floriane Cardiec
Technical Assistant : Community Fishing
In 2007 Floriane completed a Masters degree in France in Aquatic and Marine Environment Management. Since then, she has worked in Gabon, first as a marine turtle conservationist for the Partenariat pour les Tortues Marines du Gabon (PTMG), dealing with threats on turtles, such as artificial light impacts on nesting and the issue of beached logs (2008-2011). In 2012, she joined the marine team at WCS, working on several aspects including whales monitoring, Marine Protected Areas and fisheries management. She is currently involved in the governmental initiative Gabon Bleu, with an emphasis on fisheries.
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Gaspard Abitsi
Country Program Director
Born in Mounana (south-east Gabon, Central Africa) in 1976, Gaspard studied biology at the Université de Sciences et Techniques de Masuku (Gabon) and Université Claude Bernard de Lyon (France). He also attended the International Seminar on Protected Area Management with University of Montana and US Forest Service in 2009.
Gaspard is particularly interested in understanding how various land use strategies, such as logging, mining, palm plantation and protected area management, differentially impact wildlife, habitats and livelihoods of forest-dependent people. He also strengths in building consensus between local communities and conservationists on sustainable management of natural resources and; human and elephant conflict mitigation strategies.
Gaspard ABITSI has worked for WCS in Gabon for ten years and he is now the Country Director for WCS programme in Gabon. |
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