Staff
Mike Skuja
Executive Director & Founder
mike.skuja@conservationforpeople.orgMike Skuja is a human geographer with broad experience in wildlife conservation, sustainable development, poverty alleviation, and rural livelihoods impacts. He has lived and worked in the Caribbean, Central America, East Africa, South Asia and Europe. Mike has analyzed social and environmental problems from both grass-roots and policy angles, having worked at the United Nations Environment Programme-World Conservation and Monitoring Centre, National Geographic Society, the Nature Conservancy, Defenders of Wildlife, Gads Hill Community Development Center, and the Peace Corps (Panama).
Some of Mike's past experiences include efforts towards reducing human-lion conflict in Tanzania, facilitating alternative protein sources and eco-tourism ventures in Panama, and reconciling reconstruction efforts with environmental imperatives post-Tsunami in Sri Lanka. He has both marine and terrestrial experience and utilizes his expertise in facilitating projects which span the coast of Guyana to the dry lands of Tanzania. Mike has undergraduate degrees in Zoology and Geography from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MSc in Biodiversity, Conservation, and Management from the University of Oxford. Mike speaks fluent Spanish and is proficient in both Swahili and Portuguese.
Project Managers
Leonard Akwany - Kenya
Akwany Leonard Omondi is a Kenyan national born in Kisumu, Western Kenya. He has a long and successful history of work with local communities in his native country, having worked as both a project manager and adviser on numerous sustainable alternative livelihoods and conservation initiatives for the Papyrus Wetlands of Lake Victoria.
Leonard's diverse career has included conducting participatory rural appraisals for various communities such as Dunga, Kisumu District, Yala, Siaya District and Piave Farm, Nakuru District. He also works in the Sauri Village towards meeting sustainable development goals under the United Nations Millenium Villages Project. Additionally, he is an accomplished theatre practitioner with over 10 years experience in pro poor communication development through a popular African educational theatre.
Leonard holds a BSc in Natural Resources Management from Egerton University, Kenya and is finishing up his Msc in Environmental Sciences, Policy and Management at Manchester University, UK. Recently he was awarded the prestigious First Pan-African Entrepreneurship Award for his work on poverty alleviation by Educating Africa and Teach A Man To Fish, UK.
He is passionate, enthusiastic and committed to working on interactions between society, economy and ecosystems to realize the dual objective of conservation and poverty alleviation amongst grass-roots communities.
Michelle Kalamandeen - Guyana
Michelle Kalamandeen is a Guyanese conservationist from Georgetown, Guyana. Michelle has a background strongly focused on social justice, ethical implications of conservation actions, and empowerment of women and other disadvantaged groups in her home country. She assisted in the establishment of a Community Conservation Area in Waini, Region 1 in collaboration with Ministry of Amerindian Affairs and has also trained Wai-Wai Amerindians and nearly 100 other indigenous community members in decion-making tools for engaging in protected area management.
Ms. Kalamandeen's illustrious work experience includes her current role as a Scientific Officer for the Centre for the Study of Biological Diversity, University of Guyana and her position as Project Coordintor and Community Facilitator for the Guyana Marine Turtle Conservation Society. This work is heavily focused on community-based enterprise opportunities and alternative income projects, in addition to being responsible for the sea turtle monitoring program. When she is not working with fishermen to reduce incidental by-catch or coordinating education initiatives, Michelle also works as a technical assistant for the Guyana Human Rights Association.
Michelle holds a Bsc (distinction) in Biology from the University of Guyana and an Msc in Biodiversity, Conservation, and Management from the University of Oxford and has an extensive history of journal publications.
Dr. Bernard Kissui - Tanzania
Dr. Bernard Kissui is a native of Tanzania and has extensive research experience in ecological and behavioral studies of the African lion. Bernard also has experience in working with local communities. His current research in the Maasai steppe focuses on understanding the causes, patterns and impacts of human-lion conflicts related to livestock predation in pastoral communities and on the lion population as a whole. Bernard has been working with these communities to identify and implement management options for conflict mitigation.
Dr. Kissui also works as a research scientist with the African Wildlife Foundation overseeing lion research in the Maasai steppe heartland. He has studied Ngorongoro crater lion population dynamics and factors limiting population growth. He has also contributed to lion studies in Serengeti National Park. Additionally, Bernard has participated in a collaborative group that is working on developing sustainable human-natural systems, focusing on the Greater Serengeti Ecosystem as a case study.
Bernard received his PhD in Ecology, Evolution and Behavior from the University of Minnesota.
Dr. Jo Marie V. Acebes - Philippines
Dr. Jo Marie V. Acebes, 'Jom', is a Philippine national born and raised in the city of Marikina. Jom has extensive experience working with local people in the Babuyan Islands, having first started her work in the area back in November of 2000.
Her background in marine conservation and local stakeholder involvement is extensive, having worked as Project Manager for WWF-Philippines Humpback Whale Research and Conservation Project, a Faunal Research Project Coordinator for the Northern Sierra Madre National Park Conservation and Development Project, a Visiting Scientist for SeaLifeBase Project, WorldFish Center, a Project Leader for the Cetacean Research and Conservation Project, and a research team member of the History of Marine Animal Populations Asia project.
She has represented non-profit organizations at both local and national levels and has a passion for training local environmental leaders, having conducted and coordinated on-the-job trainings for local staff and partners to enhance local capacity for faunal research.
Jom has also assisted in the coordination of group educational tours for a non-profit group called FPE3: Fostering People's Education, Empowerment and Enterprise. Jom has an MSc in Biodiversity, Conservation and Management from the University of Oxford, a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the University of the Philippines, Los Banos, Laguna, and a BSc in Biology from the Ateneo de Manila.
Stella Asha - Cameroon
Stella Asha is a Cameroonian national from the Anglophone part of the country. She holds a B.Sc. (Hons) in Botany from the University of Calabar Nigeria. In the past she has held a variety of positions with different organizations, including being a Research Assistant at the Limbe Botanic Gardens. Ms. Asha has also held the post of Social Research Officer with the African Rattan Research Programme, a Department for International Development funded project which ran for four years in Cameroon, Nigeria and Ghana. This background in both the natural and social sciences aids Stella in engaging the diversity of stakeholders that she must for her work.
In 2004, her work with the African Rattan Research Programme progressed into the formation of her present organization, 'Forests, Resources, and People'. She is currently the coordinator of Forests, Resources, and People, as well as the head of the social development activities for the organization. Her work currently takes her to villages and rural areas in collaboration with other organizations such as the Wildlife Conservation Society and the Center for International Forestry Research.
Ellen Kalmbach- Cameroon Project Assistant
Ellen Kalmbach is a biologist with a growing interest in international development. After her first degree in biology, she received a PhD in zoology from the University of Glasgow. Subsequently she worked at research institutes in both the Netherlands and Germany. Her research on avian behavior and ecology involved long periods of fieldwork in rural settings in countries in Europe and South America.
An increasing interest in global distributive justice led her to take an Msc in International Development, with a focus on environment and development. For this Msc dissertation she undertook qualitative research on Fair Trade pineapple farming in Ghana. Ellen's work with Stella on the snail farming project on Mount Cameroon gives her an opportunity to interact and work directly with local communities in order to evaluate how to best execute this project with local support.
Board of Directors
Robert Lindsley
Robert Lindsley is currently an advanced doctoral student at Harvard University in the Human Development and Education program. In this capacity Robert has conducted research on children's development in adverse contexts both domestically and abroad, using a wide range of methodologies; qualitative, quantitative, and participatory in nature. Integrating findings and approaches from across psychology, anthropology, and educational research, Robert has been able to apply his training thus far on a wide number of projects serving communities as diverse as ex-child combatants in Sierra Leone to camp-based refugees on the Thai-Burmese border. In particular Robert is developing experience with integrated community-based approaches to psychosocial programming that draw upon local knowledge and the participation of community members in project design, implementation and evaluation.
In addition to his research, Robert is a Senior Programme Officer for Psychosocial Programming at World Education, Inc.'s home office in Boston, MA. In this position, Robert provides technical assistance on the design and evaluation of psychosocial programming across the agency's divisions. Specifically this targets children and families made vulnerable by conflict, disease, and natural disaster. Robert is also part of a staff training and professional development initiative seeking to raise awareness of innovative training techniques and child protection issues in the aid and development community. Robert holds a Masters degree in Mind, Brain, and Education from Harvard University and a Bachelors degree in Biopsychology from Tufts University.
James Fountain
James Fountain is a human-environment geographer and avid mountaineer from Montana. He has extensive experience in both the technical and human aspects of conservation and development, having worked for the National Geographic Society, the Forest Service, the United States Environmental Protection Agency and MONUC, the United Nations' Department of Peace Keeping Operations branch in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
James' past research has taken him to the Himalayas where he researched how traditional ecological knowledge can add to mitigation methods of Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs) in the Karakoram and Himalayan mountain ranges. Here he led a team on a community-based hazard mapping project using participatory research mapping. The research explored how effectively mountain development organizations and other cultural conservation NGOs represent their message to government officials and developers who have to weigh humanitarian concerns against environmental imperatives that may have long-term affects on the mountain peoples' lives. James recently returned from the Democratic Republic of the Congo where he worked as a project manager for the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations in the Ituri District.
Shveta Kulkarni
Shveta Kulkarni is a lawyer and member of the American Bar Association, having graduated magna cum laude from the University of Miami School of Law. Shveta has been a Public Relations Director for the International Law Society, and is also Project Co-Director for the Wrongful Convictions Project. In her spare time, Shveta enjoys tutoring for H.O.P.E.; Helping Others through Pro Bono Efforts.
Shveta has a broad interest in human rights, having worked for the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center on LUCHA; a women's legal project. Additionally, she serves on the board of directors for Miami-based organization, Sahara. This organization comprises Asian women who are working to combat domestic violence in the Asian communities of South Florida; providing support for Asian women in distress. Shveta is fluent in Spanish and proficient in Marathi, using these skills to serve her in her work.
Wan Fei (Karen) Qiu
Wan Fei Qiu is a geographer currently completing her PhD at the Environment and Society Research Unit, Department of Geography, University College London. Her research interests focus on governance of marine protected areas in China, and equity and fairness issues surrounding marine conservation and management.
Wan Fei first arrived in the United Kingdom as a Chevening Scholar for the United Nations Environment Programme-World Conservation and Monitoring Centre. There she reviewed fishery regulations for the Asia Pacific region and evaluated the planning, management and governance gaps found within these marine protected areas. She was born and raised in China and is originally from Shaoxin in the Zhejiang province.
Charlotte Hodde
Charlotte Hodde is a Water Policy Specialist for the Planning and Conservation League in Sacramento, CA. In her capacity at PCL she advocates for responsible water planning and management and sound responses to climate change threats facing the state. Her past work experience has included developing alternative energy programs to utilize biomass surplus on Wilderness Urban Interface (WUI) lands in the Sierra Nevada.
Charlotte specializes in conflict resolution amongst diverse stakeholders, and has designed and facilitated work between leaders of disadvantaged rural communities and their state and federal legislators. Her strong research interests in rural poverty issues facing mountain communities allows her to help these communities adapt to climate change and associated water management challenges in the coming years. Charlotte is originally from New Jersey and has a degree in Biology from Hamilton College.
