Our Team

Founding Board of Directors

Christine Benninger – Chairperson

Linda Brent, PhD, MBA – Treasurer

Kari Nienstedt – Secretary

Julie Sherman – President and Director

Christine Benninger
President and CEO, Guide Dogs for the Blind
Specialties: Nonprofit management, program evaluation and organizational strategic planning, fundraising

Linda Brent, PhD, MBA
Wildlife Impact; Consultant
Specialties: Nonprofit management, primate behavior, wildlife welfare, program evaluation and organizational strategic planning, policy and advocacy, fundraising, government relations

Kari Nienstedt
Senior Director, Council Engagement, Humane Society of the United States (HSUS)
Specialties: Animal protection and welfare, policy and advocacy, public engagement, nonprofit board management

Julie Sherman
Wildlife Impact
Specialties: Nonprofit management, wildlife and habitat conservation, policy and advocacy, program management and evaluation, fundraising, stakeholder outreach, government relations

Advisory Committee

Shayne Annett
Senior consultant, RM Consulting Group, Australia
Specialties: natural resource management (NRM) policy, program design and evaluation; NRM project design including monitoring, evaluation and improvement; community engagement and project logic

Andrea Coleman
Consultant
Specialties: Ape and monkey care and welfare; capacity development; nonprofit management, wildlife conservation

Kay Farmer, PhD
Honorary Research Fellow, University of Stirling; Consultant, Kay H. Farmer Consulting
Specialties: Capacity development; monitoring, evaluation and learning; partnership development; nonprofit management; wildlife conservation and welfare science, policy and action

David Greer
Coordinator, African Great Apes Programme, WWF International
Specialties:  Great ape ecology and conservation, conservation policy and law enforcement, illegal wildlife trade issues, protected area policy and management

Jennifer Koepcke
Senior Manager, Institutional Giving, Peninsula Open Space Trust
Specialties: Nonprofit fundraising, wildlife habitat and open space protection, public policy, freshwater and marine fishery management and conservation, conflict resolution and stakeholder relations

David Lucas
Senior Advisor, Natural Resource Management at Native Title Services Victoria
Specialties: Impact evaluation and strategic planning, land and natural resource management, community development, stakeholder engagement, reintroduction

Steve Unwin, MRCVS, Dip ECZM (Zoo Health Management)
Veterinary Officer, Chester Zoo; IUCN Wildlife Health Specialist Group
Specialties: Wildlife health and disease risk, reintroduction, wildlife conservation

Serge Wich, PhD
Professor in Primate Biology, Liverpool John Moores University
Specialties: Great apes, ape conservation and science, monitoring and evaluation, ape reintroduction

Liz Williamson, PhD
Senior Honorary Research Fellow, University of Stirling; IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group Section on Great Apes
Specialties: Great apes socioecology and conservation

Ape Reintroduction Committee

An independent scientific committee convened and administered by Wildlife Impact

Clare Campbell
Director, Asian Rhino Project; Administrative Director, Wildlife Asia; President, Silvery Gibbon Project

Susan Cheyne, PhD
Post-doctoral researcher, Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Oxford University; Director of Gibbon and Felid Research and Conservation, Orang-utan Tropical Peatland Project

Tatyana Humle, PhD
Lecturer in Primate Conservation, The Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent

Steve Unwin, BSc, BVSc, MRCVS, Dip. ECZM (Zoo Health Management)
Veterinary Officer, Chester Zoo; IUCN Wildlife Health Specialist Group

Liz Williamson, PhD
Senior Honorary Research Fellow, University of Stirling; Great Ape Coordinator of IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group

Serge Wich, PhD
Professor in Primate Biology, Liverpool John Moores University