David is WWF’s representative in Suriname and Guyana. He has more than 20 years executive and leadership experience in natural resource management with a focus on governance and institutional development.
He has engaged directly with local and indigenous communities, civil society, governments and the private sector in developing locally driven solutions to align their interests and respond to national and international agreements such as on Climate Change, Biodiversity Conservation, Indigenous Peoples Rights, and UN Sustainable Development Goals. He has led institutional change and worked to enable a range of stakeholders to vision and create sustainable policies that improve livelihood systems that achieve national and global environmental targets. David has developed a strong appreciation of conservation and natural resource challenges in resource dependent developing countries. David’s PhD is in Chemistry.
Maureen is the Grants Manager in Suriname since 2008. As the Grants Manager Maureen is responsible for processing and managing grants, consultancies and other agreements in Suriname; thereby working closely with grantees and contractors to help them fulfill their agreement in accordance with the terms. In her spare time, Maureen enjoys the outdoors and a good workout!
Graduating as a Forester with a specialization in nature conservation, he took the challenge to protect marine turtles and their habitat. He also leads the program for marine spatial planning.
Melissa is a 14-year veteran of WWF and as Office Manager she is responsible for the coordination and smooth running of the Administration Department. Prior to joining WWF, Melissa was employed in temporary positions at the European Union Commission and Micro Projects. She also taught English part time at the Ewald Meyer Lyceum 2. Melissa's love of nature and wildlife makes her job very interesting and informative. She is a devoted dog lover and owner. Her hobbies are traveling abroad, whenever possible, swimming in natural environments and listening to music from the baby boom era. Spending quality time with family is a major priority.
George has a wealth of experience in computer systems mangement and has been our systems administrator since August of 2000. In this position, he is responsible for the management and maintenance of the digital security, software training and support, management of data and maintaining the computer network.
Soraya joined the Oceans team in October 2020. She completed her Master studies in Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Development in the Caribbean at the University of the West Indies, Trinidad & Tobago. Soraya started her career in conservation in Suriname and has approximately 6 years of experience in working with indigenous communities, wildlife monitoring and working together with stakeholders. Soraya is leading the WWF sea turtle conservation projects for Suriname and the region by working together with a great variety of stakeholders. Soraya loves fitness and spending time with family and friends.
Being a forester by profession, Anna has worked in Guyana’s forest sector for most of her professional career. Anna has dedicated her efforts to the sustainable management of forests and is now supporting the efforts towards forest and wildlife conservation with a focus on reducing deforestation and jaguar conservation. Conservation of forests as a part of maintaining forested areas for the sustainability for future generations, Anna feels that our collective efforts towards forest conservation is most critical at this time and we can all do our part.
Juliette holds a Master degree in Business Administration and is responsible for the complete financial management of the WWF Guianas program, preparation and monitoring of the annual budgeting cycles, and management of donor contracts including reporting.
Joining the team in February 2017, Carolyn brings with her extensive hands-on experience in Training and Development, Performance Management and Employee Relations. A certified open water diver, Carolyn enjoys travelling to enjoy nature’s breathtaking views.
Ida is in charge of monitoring project budgets; preparation of financial and donor reports and analyzing financial information. Her affection for nature is greatly reflected in the way Ida does her work.
With a university degree in Economics Wendy supports the finance team with her dedicated, flexible, positive and results-driven work attitude. She is the Junior Accountant since August 2017 and is mainly responsible for the day to day financial and accounting operations of the office. For a healthy work-life balance Wendy loves aqua-aerobics and enjoys recreational activities in the nature with her family.