Ethiopia
Charlotte Fellowship: 1997-1998; 2000-2001

Dr. Ashenafi is a leading expert on the Ethiopian wolf, the world’s most critically endangered canid. He began his career in 1985 with the Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Organization and later worked at the national and local government levels. With the aid of two Charlotte Fellowships (1997-1998; 2000-2001), Dr. Ashenafi earned his doctorate in Biodiversity Management from the University of Kent, UK. His research focused on the conservation of Ethiopia’s highlands that are home to Ethiopian wolf, Gelada baboon, and other remarkable endemic animals. Returning to Ethiopia, he became a senior officer for the Ethiopia Wolf Conservation Program and served as a member of the Canid Working Group under IUCN’s Species Survival Commission. Recently, he played an important role in controlling the outbreak of rabies - a grave threat to the 500 remaining Ethiopian wolves.

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Mozambique
Charlotte Fellowship: 2005-2006

Carlos Bento is a Senior Researcher for the Eduardo Mondlane University, Museum of Natural History, in Maputo, Mozambique. His research on the ecology, distribution, genetics and conservation of Cape Buffalo in the Gorongosa Zambezee Region of Mozambique research will help improve the conservation of Zambezi delta buffalo and other wildlife that has been negatively affected by the construction of the Caborra Bassa Dam. His degree will allow him to better train and supervise students in order to increase national capacity in conservation and natural resource management in Mozambique.

Carlos holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the in Eduardo Mondlane University and a Master of Science degree in Zoology from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. He has 10 years of experience in teaching and research at the university and in Zambezi delta respectively. Over the years, he has distinguished himself as one of Mozambique’s foremost experts in wetland biodiversity and conservation. He has participated and made many presentations on his research to international ornithological conferences. He has also published his research extensively in various journals and papers and co-authored important national biodiversity reports such as the National Report on the Biodiversity of Mozambique. Carlos has conducted various conservation projects together with government agencies in Mozambique as well as southern Africa ranging from conservation planning, bird census to environmental impact assessments. Today he serves as a member of the Water Scientific Council that advises the government of Mozambique on water issues. He is also coordinating the development of the Zambezi Delta Management Planning process that will designate the delta as the first Mozambican wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention.

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Namibia
Charlotte Fellowship: 2001-2002

Josephine was one of the few women in Namibia with a BSc when AWF awarded her a Charlotte Fellowship in 2001-2002 to pursue a MSc in Biology at the University of Namibia. Prior to her studies, Josephine worked as an extension officer for Namibia’s Ministry of Agriculture and for the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF). Her master’s focused on the relationship between livestock management and habitat degradation in northern Namibia. Today, Josephine works as a Senior Research Assistant for CCF. She is responsible for management of the veterinary clinic and plays an important role in medical procedures, studies of cheetah reproduction physiology, sperm freezing, and record maintenance.

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Democratic Republic of Congo
Charlotte Fellowship: 2006-2007

Bila-Isia works for the World Wildlife Fund for Nature in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He started working in conservation with Wildlife Conservation Society where he led the gorilla census in eastern DRC. He then moved to Salonga National Park in 2001 when the war broke out. In the midst of war and against great challenges, he was able to travel through frontlines and soldier checkpoints to initiate biological surveys for bonobos and forest elephants. During this time, he established the first bonobo research station at Etate in the park and this station continues to collect biological information today. He also strongly advocated for the successful inclusion of Salonga NP as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Danger.

In 2002 he joined the MIKE/CITES Regional Program where he trained field research assistants across Central Africa. He also facilitated the development of the Regional Elephant Conservation Plan. In 2005, he joined WWF as the Landscape Leader for the CARPE program in Lac Tumba area in DRC. He works closely with the AWF team in Lopori Maringa Wamba and hopes to establish a reserve, elephant and bonobo monitoring programs, train research assistant in ecological monitoring and habituate bonobos for tourism. He is also a member of the IUCN SSP/Great Ape Advisor board; a recipient of the Maurice Swingland Prize, UK (1997) for the most outstanding Student in a Master Degree program; and in 1996, he received a visiting scholars award) from the New York Consortium of Evolutionary Primatology (NYCEP), and in (1996-1997), Darwin fellowship and British Ecological Society’s Early Career Grant. He has produced more than 20 peer-reviewed scientific papers and more than 30 general audience papers plus a great number of grey literatures.

Bila-Isia has been awarded a partial fellowship to complete his PhD in Wildlife Management at the Durrell Institute Conservation and Ecology (DICE), University of Kent, UK. His research will focus on the population status, threats and conservation of the bonobos in La Tumba in DRC. His research should generate information that will be useful for bonobo conservation efforts in DRC by conservation organizations including AWF.

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Kenya
Charlotte Fellowship: 1996-1997

Paula is a highly regarded conservationist in Africa today. Dr. Kahumbu received a Charlotte Fellowship in 1996 and studied for a doctorate in Ecology and Evolutionary behavior at Princeton. Her research looked at the effects of elephants in Kenya’s Shimba Hills National Park. After her studies, she became Scientific Advisor for Kenya Wildlife Service. She was responsible for the Convention in Trade for Endangered Species (CITES) and led the Kenyan delegation to Chile in 2002. She founded the Colobus Trust, which helped save the endangered red colobus monkey on the Kenyan coast. In 2002, Paula was elected to the Board of Governors of the Society for Conservation Biology (SCB) representing Africa. Today, Paula works for Lafarge Ecosystems, where she leads a successful private sector land and habitat restoration program that restores wastelands for use by wildlife.. This Sanctuary, called Haller Park, is an important tourist attraction on the Kenyan Coast. After the tsunami in December 2004, the sanctuary witnessed an incredible relationship develop between an orphaned hippo calf and an old tortoise. Based on this amazing story, Paula co-authored a children’s book titled Owen and Mzee, which became a New York Times Bestseller.

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Uganda

Gladys served as the first veterinary officer for the Ugandan Wildlife Authority where she collaborated extensively with AWF and the International Gorilla Conservation Program on mountain gorilla conservation and gorilla medical issues. Her Charlotte Fellowship supported a master’s degree in Wildlife Zoological Medicine at the University of North Carolina. Her research topic focused on the prevalence of certain types of tuberculosis in African buffalo and cattle and their interface with humans in and around Queen Elizabeth and Bwindi Impenetrable National Parks in Uganda. The study helped to clarify concerns related to public health and animal interface and assisted in creating protocols with regard to cattle and wildlife conservation, most specifically with respect to wild buffalo populations. This study also had important implications related to medical issues within Bwindi’s wild gorilla population as contagious diseases are a constant concern in any endangered species population. After completing her degree, Gladys founded and continues to serve as the Chief Executive Officer for a grassroots non-profit organization called Conservation Through Public Health. The organization is dedicated to promoting “conservation and public health by improving primary health care to people and animals in and around protected areas in Africa,” with Uganda as a primary focus.

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Tanzania

Before her fellowship, Betty served as a senior park warden in charge of tourism for the Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA). Among other accomplishments, she headed the tourism department at Serengeti National Park, where she was deeply involved in the design and construction of the very impressive Serengeti Visitor Center. According to Betty, “support from AWF” through the Charlotte Fellowship Program, “allowed me to obtain my master’s degree in Environment and Development” at the University of Natal in South Africa. Betty’s research, titled "Tourism and Local People’s Livelihoods" focused on the tourism impact of porters, guides, and the local communities surrounding Mount Kilimanjaro National Park of Tanzania. Betty has used the knowledge she gained in several advisory positions within TANAPA and in her current position as the Senior Park Warden for Lake Manyara National Park. In this role, she is a key partner for AWF in the Maasai Steppe Heartland.

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Republic of Congo

Via a Charlotte Fellowship, Yves earned a master’s in forestry at the National School of Rural Engineering and Forestry (ENGREF) in Montpellier, France. Yves' thesis examined the impact of bush hunting on ungulate populations in the Boumba-Bek region of Cameroon. Prior to his studies, he had worked as a research assistant with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) at the Nouabale Ndoki National Park in the Republic of Congo. In 1999 and 2000 he served as a biologist on Michael Fay’s “Megatrasect” of Africa’s equatorial forests. Yves is currently pursuing doctorate studies in Tropical Geography with a specialty in Environmental Management at the University of Bordeaux. In late 2004, he published results from his initial two years of research on the bush meat trade in Cameroon.

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South Africa Charlotte Fellowship: 1996-1997; 1998-1999

Hector’s story is a remarkable success that reflects South Africa’s transformation from apartheid. He was the country’s first black ecologist when he began working in 1986 at Bophurthatswana Parks. After completing a master’s degree at Witwatersand University and at Colorado State University, he returned to Bophurthatswana and launched an award winning community conservation program – the first of its kind in South Africa. AWF awarded him two Charlotte Fellowships, 1996-1997 and 1998-1999, for his Ph.D. in Conservation Biology at the University of Kent, United Kingdom. His research focused on community development and management of protected areas in post-apartheid South Africa. Today, he serves as the Executive Director of Conservation Services at SanParks. He is also in charge of SanParks’ Transfrontier Conservation initiatives and is Vice Chair of the World Commission for Protected Areas in Southern Africa. Hector was a key figure in transforming South Africa’s National Parks Act to ensure that local people play a role in park management.

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Zimbabwe
Charlotte Fellowship: 2006-2007

Jimmiel was awarded a partial fellowship to finalize his PhD in Fisheries Ecology that he had earlier started at the University of Zimbabwe. He will complete his studies at the University of Limpopo in South Africa. His research focuses on the offshore pelagic fishery for the freshwater sardine, Limnothrissa miodon, an introduced species, which has created a big commercial industry on both Lake Kariba (shared by Zambia & Zimbabwe) and Cahora Bassa (in Mozambique). This knowledge from the study should inform adaptive management decisions with regard to regulating entry into the fishery, designating allowable fishing zones, etc and in that way allow for sustainable use of the resource which will result in improved entrepreneurial developments in these countries. This is in line with AWF’s goal in the Zambezi landscape where it seeks to guide management interventions for aquatic resources on the basis of good scientific knowledge. Jimmiel is the first Zimbabwean to receive this award.

Jimmiel is currently AWF's Zambezi Heartland Director based in Kariba, Zimbabwe. Jimmiel joined AWF in 2002 from the University of Zimbabwe’s Lake Kariba Research Station where he has worked as a research fellow since 1992. He holds a Masters degree in Fisheries Management from the University of Kuopio in Finland. Jimmiel is the first aquatic ecologist to join the AWF team and was instrumental in leading a multi-national working group that worked on shared water resource management on the Zambezi River.

> Learn more about Jimmiel and his work in Zambezi.

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Zambia

Chola was supported to undertake an MSc in Economics and Management of Rural Development at the University of Manchester, UK. Chola finished his BSc in Natural Resources Management at the University of Zambia in 2000. Thereafter, he worked with Wildlife and Environmental Conservation Society of Zambia (WECSZ) as an Administrator. When he was awarded the fellowship, he was working as the Acting Director of WECSZ, where he designed environmental and conservation programs for WECSZ and represented WECSZ at various policy debates.

Chola has demonstrated potential leadership qualities in Zambia and the southern African region. He was involved in the development of an environmental education framework for the Chongololo and Conservation Clubs of Zambia - the largest environmental Education Programme in Zambia. He was also a member of the Steering Committee of the Southern African Bio-diversity Support Programme – a five-year SADC initiative looking at the management and utilization of biodiversity in the Southern African region. He was the national focal point for local environmental NGOs in the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) held in South Africa in 2002. He is also a member of the technical committee on the Dry Land Bio-diversity Transboundary Programme involving participation from Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. His research programme examined how community based natural resources management can be used as a tool for local development and sustainable development in GMAs in Zambia and be relevant to issues in the Zambezi Heartland. Today he works as a consultant on a wide range of conservation issues in Zambia.

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Tanzania
Charlotte Fellowship: 2006-2007

Ms. Msoffe works for the Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA). She joined TANAPA from university as a trainee warden in 1992 and rose through the ranks to become the Park Ecologist at Tarangire National Park where she was in charge of ecological monitoring and GIS. In 2005, she was selected by ILRI to undertake a PhD by research in the Tarangire-Simanjiro Ecosystem in Maasai Steppe. She was awarded a partial fellowship by AWF to support her studies at the University of Edinburgh in the UK. Her research will focus on Pastoralism and Land-Use in the Maasai Steppe area.

The main aim of Fortunata's PhD research is to map, characterize, and quantify spatial and temporal land-cover and land-use changes, dynamics and impacts on large mammals of the Tarangire-Simanjiro ecosystem by using remote sensing data, collating and collecting wildlife data, and linking this information with local people’s knowledge. These findings from her research will be useful for conservation in the Maasai Steppe Heartland. Fortunata currently holds a Masters degree in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Dar es Salaam.

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Botswana
Charlotte Fellowship: 2006-2007

Gosiame needs no elaborate introduction within AWF. Currently, he is leading the Large Predator Species Project in Kazungula Heartland where he studies the population dynamics and human wildlife conflicts of lions and other predators in the Chobe-Caprivi Ecosystem. He has been researching lions under this project for the last 5 years and is based in Kasane Botswana. He joined AWF from the Botswana Department of Wildlife and National Parks where he had risen in the ranks from an assistant wildlife biologist to a senior wildlife biologist. He is a member of the African Lion Working Group among other bodies and has published some articles in peer-reviewed journals. He currently holds a MSc in Natural Resources Management and Sustainable Agriculture from the Agricultural University of Norway.

Gosiame is studying for a PhD in Conservation Ecology. His research focuses on Problem analysis of human-carnivore conflict in the Chobe Enclave Communal Area. The selection of Gosiame is part of the drive of AWF to develop capacity for sound science in heartlands.

> Learn more about Gosiame and his work with large carnivores in Chobe.

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South Africa
Charlotte Fellowship: 1998-1999

Ulli is another South African with an inspiring story. A vocal critic of apartheid, she fled the country to live in Botswana until the early 1990s. Returning to South Africa, she worked at the Group of Environmental Monitoring on community conservation issues. She received a Charlotte Fellowship in 1998 to study for a master’s in Geography and Environmental Studies at the University of Witwatersrand. Since then, she worked as a consultant and researcher for several organizations, including the Ford Foundation, Danish Cooperation for Environment and Development (DANCED), and SANParks. She is an expert in South Africa on land restitution issues concerning national parks and transboundary conservation. In 2004, Ulli began Ph.D. studies at the University of Witwatersrand, where she is researching the impact of SANParks’ social ecology unit in Kruger National Park.

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Rwanda
Charlotte Fellowship: 2002-2003

Eugène started his career as a junior officer in Rwanda’s national park system and rose to become a Deputy Director. He later joined the International Gorilla Conservation Program (IGCP) as a Program Manager and was instrumental in protecting mountain gorillas during Rwanda’s civil war. Eugène won two international awards for his efforts – the Getty Prize for Wildlife Conservation in 1996 and the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2001. Eugène received a Charlotte Fellowship in 2002 and studied for a Master of Science in Applied Ecology and Conservation at the University of East Anglia, UK. His master’s thesis focused on the role of adaptive partnerships in conservation in Rwanda. In 2005, Eugène became the first African Director of IGCP and is internationally recognized for his mountain gorilla conservation efforts. In 2007, he was selected as a CNN Hero for Defending the Planet.

> Learn more about Eugène and his work protecting mountain gorillas

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Ghana
Charlotte Fellowship: 1996-1997

Before receiving a Charlotte Fellowship in 1997, Moses worked for Ghana’s Wildlife Department and conducted wildlife surveys in the country’s parks and reserves. Conservation of Ghana’s endangered elephants is a particular passion for him. Since earning a master’s in Conservation Biology at the University of Kent, UK, he has worked as a senior officer in Ghana’s Wildlife Department. He has served as Ghana’s representative to the African Elephant Specialist Group and is an advisor for IUCN’s Human-Elephant Conflict working group. He continues to conduct important elephant research in West Africa and is an advisor on elephant conservation issues throughout Africa.

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