Our Team
Julie Sherman, PhD – Executive Director
Julie co-founded Wildlife Impact in 2015, bringing more than 30 years of experience including habitat, species and cultural resource protection, conservation policy, research and communication, and NGO management. Julie leads programs to advance wildlife conservation and welfare through research, evidence-based evaluation, strategic planning, capacity development and policy. She has a PhD in conservation biology and a Masters in geography.
Emily Massingham, PhD – Program officer
Emily is a conservation scientist working as a Program Officer at Wildlife Impact and Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Queensland. Her core career goal is to support the development of solutions to conservation problems that benefit both people and nature, specializing in community-based conservation. Emily’s research spans human-wildlife conflict, social equity, participatory decision-making, and great ape conservation. Emily is leading a multidisciplinary collaboration developing of the STEPS Framework for participatory approaches to human-great ape coexistence. In her free time, she enjoys singing and playing piano, travelling, and spending time in nature with her daughter.
Liz Williamson, PhD – African great apes socioecology and conservation
Liz’s professional focus is great ape socioecology and conservation. For the past 20 years, she has been based in Scotland, affiliated to the University of Stirling, and working mainly with the IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group. Before that, Liz worked in the forests of six African countries (primarily in Rwanda, Gabon and Democratic Republic of Congo, but also in Cameroon, Central African Republic and Liberia). Liz has a bachelor’s degree in zoology from the University of Reading, and a PhD in psychology from the University of Stirling. She has been working with Wildlife Impact since 2014.
Thalia Liokatis – Administration
Thalia has over 20 years’ experience, working relentlessly on various aspects of biodiversity and community conservation, sustainable development, climate change, conservation of protected areas in emergency situations and natural resource management mainly in Africa. Thalia has hands-on experience in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of conservation projects, establishing strategic partnerships with various stakeholders and funders nationally and internationally as well as building the capacity of, and providing advisory services to, the protected area authority, local authorities, community-based organisations, local associations and local communities.
Jennifer Koepcke – Treasurer
Jennifer has been a fundraiser and advocate for environmental conservation for over twenty years, and is currently the Senior Director for Institutional Engagement at WildAid. Through this work, Jennifer has helped to protect terrestrial, freshwater, and ocean species and habitats; support sustainable agriculture and timber production; and provide environmental education and job training for youth. She has successfully advocated for policy reform to improve government transparency and accountability, and to ensure the availability and appropriate expenditure of public funding for natural resource conservation. Jennifer holds a Master of Arts in Negotiation, Conflict Resolution, and Peacebuilding, and a Bachelor of Arts in Biology. She enjoys hiking in the mountains, reading on the beach, and spending time with her husband, friends, and family.
Kari Nienstedt, CVA – Board member
Kari Nienstedt, a Certified Volunteer Administrator, has been active in animal protection since 1993. In 2006, she led a successful statewide ballot initiative in Arizona to protect farm animals. She joined Humane World for Animals (formerly the Humane Society of the United States) shortly after, first serving as Arizona State Director, then managing a national volunteer and donor engagement program. She now serves as Senior Managing Director of Volunteer Outreach and Engagement, where she leads the development of volunteer engagement strategies and the expansion of volunteer programs across the organization.
Linda Brent, PhD, MBA – Secretary
Linda Brent, PhD, MBA is an animal behavior scientist and nonprofit manager. She began her career studying chimpanzees and other nonhuman primates, culminating in the establishment of the Chimp Haven chimpanzee sanctuary. Linda is currently the Executive Director of the Parsemus Foundation, a private foundation focused on the health and wellbeing of humans and pets. She also founded Blue Toby, a social enterprise focused on pet products and has a small farm in North Carolina.
Core Team
Christine Caurant – Research and administration
Technical Advisors
Shayne Annett
Principal, 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
Consultant, Wild Ally
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 [Retired]
Specialties: Great ape ecology and conservation, conservation policy and law enforcement, illegal wildlife trade issues, protected area policy and management
David Lucas
Senior Manager, Strategy and Engagement, Parks 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)
Programme Manager, Wildlife Health Australia; 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
Memberships
Wildlife Impact is a member of GRASP (Great Apes Survival Partnership). As an independent member organization, Wildlife Impact operates its own programs and initiatives.