Rachel Asegbofeh Ikemeh is a Whitley Award-winning conservationist and Founder/Director at the Southwest Niger Delta Forest Project, a grassroots-focused conservation initiative that has been dedicated to the  protection of fragile wildlife populations and habitat across her project sites in Africa’s most populous nation. Rachel won the award in 2020 for her work on chimpanzee populations in Nigeria and is aiming to secure 20% of chimpanzee habitat in Southwest Nigeria. She is also the winner of the National Geographic Society Buffet Awards for Conservaton Leadership in Africa, a Tusk Conservation Awards Finalist. She works to protect some of the most highly threatened forest habitats and primate populations in southern Nigeria. For example, Rachel’s determined efforts has helped to bring back a species from the brink of extinction – the rare and critically endangered Niger Delta red colobus monkey, also, considered one of 25 most endangered primates in the world. She has helped to establish two protected areas and have also taken on the management of these PAs to restore habitats in these very highly threatened ecosystems which are also areas of high-security risks in the country. Rachel is the Co-Vice Chair for the IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group African Section and Member of the International Primatological Society (IPS) education committee. Through her strategic positions in these networks, Rachel has been committed to championing the need to increase conservation leadership amongst Africans as she co-founded the African Primatological society in 2017. She’s trained the 55 persons that make up her team from local institutions and local communities.

Since 1996, Joanna Setchell  research has integrated methods including behaviour, morphology, demography, genetics, endocrinology, semiochemistry and dental histology to address questions relating to reproductive strategies, life history, sexual selection and signalling in primates. The majority of this work has focused on a semifree-ranging colony of mandrills, housed at the Centre International de Recherches Médicales, Franceville (CIRMF), Gabon. For more about our long-term studies of mandrills, please see this review, and this summary. She has also conducted primate fieldwork in Cameroon, Republic of Congo and Sabah, Malaysia, including personal experience of conservation issues and primate reintroductions. Her research is increasingly focused on human-wildlife coexistence and biodiversity conservation. She’s convinced that conservation must be underpinned by a deep understanding of the historical, political and social context. Her current work is in collaboration with Save Gabon's Primates to promote the conservation and welfare of primates in Gabon. She has a long-standing interest in the practice and ethics of primate research. She co-edited a book on Field and Laboratory Methods in Primatology with an explicit focus on ethics, helped to develop the International Primatological Society's Code of Best Practices in Field Primatology, and lead the establishment of a new IPS Vice-President for Equity and Ethics. Her recent book, Studying Primates, has a strong focus on equity, ethics and integrity. As President of the Primate Society of Great Britain, She is focused on the need to decolonize our discipline.

She is a Professor in the Department of Anthropology she joined Durham Anthropology in 2007. She have a PhD in Zoology from the University of Cambridge, and moved into Anthropology via post-doctoral research at the Centre for Research in Evolutionary Anthropology at Roehampton University and in the Department of Biological Anthropology at the University of Cambridge, and a temporary lectureship in Anthropology at University College London. She teaches biological and evolutionary anthropology at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. She won two awards for doctoral supervision. Also served on the University Senate as an elected representative of the Academic Electoral Assembly, and as Director of the MSc in Evolutionary Anthropology, Chair of the Exam Board, Director of Research, Inclusion Diversity and Equity champion, and Director of Postgraduate Research in my department.

Beth Kaplin is a biodiversity conservation scientist currently serving as the first Director of the Center of Excellence in Biodiversity & Natural Resource Management at University of Rwanda (UR) since 2017. This is a relatively new knowledge management research center with UNESCO Category 2 Center status aimed at contributing science to policy. Beth is a Professor of Conservation Science at UR, and supervises BSc, MSc and PhD students at UR and other academic institutions. She is an affiliated Research Professor in the School for the Environment and Senior Fellow at the Center of Global Governance and Sustainability, both at University of Massachusetts-Boston. She is currently President of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation. She received her BSc in wildlife biology from Colorado State University, and MSc and PhD in Zoology from University of Wisconsin-Madison. From 2006 to 2015, she raised over 1 million USD from the MacArthur Foundation to develop BSc and MSc programs in biodiversity conservation at National University of Rwanda. She also created the Regional Network for Conservation Educators in the Albertine Rift to support and empower conservation scientists in Rwanda, Burundi, DRC, Tanzania, and Uganda with MacArthur Foundation support. Beth maintains a research program with her students on tropical forest ecology, seed dispersal, primates, protected areas conservation, ecosystem services, climate adaptation, and human-wildlife interactions that began in 1990 when she first came to do research in Nyungwe forest, Rwanda. Under her direction, the Center manages ~USD$ 2 million in externally raised funds for research and projects annually, and she oversaw the revitalization of the National Herbarium of Rwanda which holds over 20,000 specimens. She is interested in evaluating and monitoring effectiveness of ecosystem-based adaptation and landscape restoration initiatives and is working with colleagues to develop the Rwanda Biodiversity Information system. Dr. Kaplin has focused her career on the role of higher education in building capacity for biodiversity conservation and climate adaptation research in Africa. She lives in Rwanda with her husband and visits their family home in Vermont, USA whenever possible.

She has been fortunate to participate in several workshops on active teaching and student-centered learning, primarily through the Center for Biodiversity at the American Museum of Natural History. She delivers teacher training workshops in various contexts across the USA and Africa, and she is passionate about integrating active, student-centered teaching methods into her classrooms. She has developed undergraduate, Master’s, and PhD-level courses and programs of study in biodiversity conservation and environmental studies at various institutions in the USA and Africa. She teaches courses in ecology, research methods, conservation biology, community conservation, professional skills, and tropical ecology. Additionally, she has led field study trips in Costa Rica, the USA (including Florida, Vermont, New Hampshire), and East and Central Africa.

Elle a eu la chance de participer à plusieurs ateliers sur l'enseignement actif et l'apprentissage centré sur l'étudiant, principalement par l'intermédiaire du Centre pour la biodiversité du Musée américain d'histoire naturelle. Elle anime des ateliers de formation d'enseignants dans divers contextes aux États-Unis et en Afrique, et elle est passionnée par l'intégration de méthodes d'enseignement actives et centrées sur l'étudiant dans ses classes. Elle a développé des cours et des programmes d’études de premier cycle, de maîtrise et de doctorat en conservation de la biodiversité et en études environnementales dans diverses institutions aux États-Unis et en Afrique. Elle donne des cours sur l'écologie, les méthodes de recherche, la biologie de la conservation, la conservation communautaire, les compétences professionnelles et l'écologie tropicale. De plus, elle a dirigé des voyages d'études sur le terrain au Costa Rica, aux États-Unis (notamment en Floride, au Vermont et au New Hampshire) et en Afrique de l'Est et centrale.

Ekwoge Abwe is a San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance scientist, co-leader of SDZWA African Forest Hub and manager of the Cameroon Biodiversity Association (CAMBIO). His research interest focuses on niche separation in primate species in the Ebo forest (rainforest) and Mbam & Djerem National Park (forest-woodland-savanna mosaic), Cameroon. His major role as manager of the CAMBIO is to coordinate research activities in the Ebo forest and Mbam & Djerem National Park, and to guide conservation education and outreach in communities around the sites. Ekwoge is passionate about primates, particularly great apes, and was the first to witness chimpanzees smashing nuts in Cameroon – a new behavioral discovery for the Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee.

Ekwoge earned his bachelor’s degree in Geography from the University of Yaoundé 1 in Cameroon 1995. He then taught at secondary school before starting a conservation career with WWF Cameroon as a GIS specialist in 1998. He subsequently joined the SDZWA Central Africa Program 2003, working in the Ebo forest on several tropical forest primates, including chimpanzees, gorillas and drills. In 2010, he earned his master’s degree in Primate Conservation at Oxford Brookes University, UK, winning a habitat country scholarship in the process. He earned his doctoral degree at Drexel University, Philadelphia, with a primary focus on how genetic and ecological variation are linked with the behavioral ecology of the Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee.

Ekwoge earned his bachelor’s degree in Geography from the University of Yaoundé 1 in Cameroon 1995. He then taught at secondary school before starting a conservation career with WWF Cameroon as a GIS specialist in 1998. He subsequently joined the SDZWA Central Africa Program 2003, working in the Ebo forest on several tropical forest primates, including chimpanzees, gorillas and drills. In 2010, he earned his master’s degree in Primate Conservation at Oxford Brookes University, UK, winning a habitat country scholarship in the process. He earned his doctoral degree at Drexel University, Philadelphia, with a primary focus on how genetic and ecological variation are linked with the behavioral ecology of the Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee.

Ekwoge was honored with the prestigious Whitley Fund for Nature Award in 2013, The Explorers Club 50 Award in 2022 and Prince William Award for Conservation in Africa in 2023 for his grassroots efforts to engage local communities in great ape conservation in Cameroon. He serves as secretary general of the African Primatological Society and co-vice chair of the IUCN Section on Great Apes.

Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka is one of the leading conservationists and scientists working to save the critically endangered mountain gorillas of East Africa. She is founder and Chief Executive Officer of Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH), a 16-year old nonprofit organization that promotes conservation by improving the quality of life of people and wildlife to enable them to coexist in and around protected areas in Africa. She became an

Ashoka Fellow in 2007 for merging Uganda’s wildlife management and rural public health programs to create common resources for both people and animals.Dr. Gladys trained as a veterinarian at the University of London’s Royal Veterinary College. Between 1996 and 2000, she set up the first Veterinary Unit at the Uganda Wildlife Authority. From 2000 to 2003, she completed a zoological medicine residency and masters in specialized veterinary medicine at North Carolina State University and North Carolina Zoological Park. Prior to setting up CTPH she also did a certificate in Non-profit management from Duke University. Most recently in 2016, she completed an MBA in Global Business and Sustainability – Social Entrepreneurship Track.

 Her most recent awards include the 2017 World Wildlife Day Award from the Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities (MTWA) for outstanding contribution to conservation in Uganda and 2017 Golden Jubilee Award from the President of Uganda for distinguished service to the nation as a veterinarian and conservationist on International Women’s Day. Other awards include San Diego Zoo’s 2008 “Conservation in Action Award,” the 2009 Whitley Gold Award for outstanding leadership in grassroots nature conservation; 2011 Wings World Quest Women of Discovery Humanitarian Award, and 2014 CEO Communications Africa’s Most Influential Women in Business and Government Award in Medicine and Veterinary category.

Under her leadership, Conservation Through Public Health won the Global Development Network 2012 Japanese Most Innovative Development Project Award for scaling social service delivery. Dr. Gladys recently became a National Geographic Explorer and winner of the Sierra Club’s 2018 EarthCare Award. 2019 Finalist for the Tusk Award for Conservation in Africa ,the 2020 Uganda Veterinary Association World Veterinary Day Award and the 2020 Aldo Leopold award. She is on the leadership council of Women for the Environment in Africa.

Pr. Jonah Ratsimbazafy is a native of Madagascar. He received his PhD in Physical Anthropology from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He is an Adjunct Professor at the University in Madagascar. Currently, he is the President of the International Primatological Society (IPS). He is also the President of the Madagascar Primate Research Group (GERP), the Director of the Houston Zoo Madagascar Programs, a co-Vice-Chair of the IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group-Madagascar, a National Geography Explorer, counselor of the Lemur Conservation Network, a member of the advisory board for African Primatological Society (APS) and a representative of CITES. He is a fellow member of the African Academic of Sciences (AAS) and the World Academic of Sciences (TWAS). 

Leandro Jerusalinsky Leadro Jerusalinsky earned his degrees as Bachelor in Biological Sciences (UFRGS, 1997), Master in Genetics and Molecular Biology (UFRGS, 2001) and Doctor in Biological Sciences - Zoology (UFPB, 2013). Environmental Analyst since 2003, at the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA, 2003-2007) and the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio, 2007-present), both autarchies linked to the Brazilian Ministry of Environment. Head of the National Center for Research and Conservation of Brazilian Primates (ICMBio/CPB) since 2009. Deputy Chair of the IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group. Member of the IUCN SSC Conservation Planning Specialist Group. Member of the Brazilian Society of Primatology (SBPr) Council. Former President (2018-2021) and former Secretary (2015-2017) of the Latin American Society of Primatology (SLAPrim). Collaborating researcher of the Urban Monkeys Program (UFRGS). Its main areas of expertise are: Neotropical Primate Conservation, Primatology, Strategic Planning for Conservation, and Conservation Biology.

Sian Waters have been working with wildlife for over 30 years, specialising in primate conservation issues and now an independent consultant.  She has graduate and post-graduate qualifications in Psychology and Biological Science from the University of Wales. Her PhD thesis assessed the benefits of using ethnographic data to drive conservation strategy in Barbary macaque habitat in Morocco.  Her  inclusive approach greatly increased the efficiency and long term sustainability of our conservation initiatives by identifying social and cultural obstacles to conservation, meaningful engagement and inclusion of local stakeholders leading to pro-conservation behaviour change.​ 

Her research focuses the complex facets of human-wildlife coexistence particularly human-animal relations as well as people's perceptions of wildlife conservation. She is the Co-vice-chair of the IUCN Primate Specialist Group's Section for Human-Primate Interactions, and a member of the core team of the IUCN Conservation Translocation Specialist Group Section for human-wildlife interactions. Fieldwork experience includes Belize, Cambodia, Canada, Laos, Mauritius, Morocco, USA, Venezuela and Vietnam. She is a native English speaker and also fluent in Spanish and Italian and fairly skilled in the use of social media.

Pr.Inza Koné (Côte d’Ivoire) is Director General of the Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques (CSRS), President of the African Primatological Society (APS) and Co-Vice Chair of the Africa Section of the IUCN/SSC Primates Specialist Group (PSG).

Inza Koné is a Full Professor of Conservation Biology at the Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. Since July 2018 he has been Managing Director of the Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques en Côte d’Ivoire (CSRS). His work focuses on the management of natural resources and the conservation of large mammal species, especially primates. This work makes links between ecology, economy, and culture for the empowerment of rural communities. Inza has won several international and national awards, including the 2009 Future for Nature Award (the Netherlands), the 2012 Whitley Award for Nature Conservation (UK), the 2015 National Research Award (Côte d’Ivoire), the 2020 Presidential Award of the International Primatological Society, and the Officer Medal in the order of merit of national education in Côte d’Ivoire. He is active in several international professional organizations, including as President of the African Primatological Society since 2017, co-Vice Chair of the Africa Section of the IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group, a member of several committees of the International Primatological Society, a member of the IUCN/SSC Hippopotamus Specialist Group, a member of the Regional Advisory Committee of the Biodiversity and Protected Areas Management (BIOPAMA) program for West Africa, and Chairman of the Group of Evaluators for the Green List of Protected Areas in Côte d’Ivoire (IUCN). He has authored over 100 publications in the fields of primatology, conservation, behavioral ecology, and environmental education. He recently won the Rolex Awards for Enterprise support of exceptional individuals who have the courage and conviction to take on major challenges, initiating extraordinary projects that make the world a better place.

Josia is a primatologist specializing in holistic approaches to biodiversity conservation in Madagascar. She earned her PhD in 2011, focused on the ecological niche between ring-tailed and brown lemurs. Then, she launched the “Sifaka Conservation” project, which received several international awards, including the Whitley Award. She then founded the organization IMPACT Madagascar to sustain the community conservation program linked to this project. Josia also led the globally recognized environmental management program at the Ambatovy mining company. During her eight years at Ambatovy, she managed a large team and international consultants, contributing to remarkable delivery of biodiversity gains for the company and Madagascar. For the past two years, she has worked at Maliasili, where she supports local organizations in becoming more structured, results-oriented, and rigorous in their pursuit of success. She also supports education in Madagascar, particularly at the University of Antananarivo, where she teaches on sustainable development, a field she considers essential for driving positive change in the country.