• Key staff from Durrell involved in our training delivery



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      Dr Helen Gath

      Head of Training

      After obtaining a BSc in Zoology, Helen spent three years in Mauritius, which led to her PhD research on Echo parakeets. Whilst working for DEFRA and various NGOs since, Helen gained experience in species monitoring to inform policy and practice and in teaching the practice of successful conservation. Helen supports the delivery of the DESMAN graduate certificate course at the Academy and is developing a professional development programme and online learning management system for course participants and graduates across the world.




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      Gale Glendewar

      Conservation Knowledge Officer

      Gale provides operational and strategic support across Durrell’s Academy, Learning and Conservation Departments and manages the Zoo Internship programme. She has an MSc in Environmental Management and Conservation and has worked for Durrell for 17 years with much of this time spent as a mammal keeper. She has provided training in tamarin husbandry in South America and worked on radio tracking and camera trapping projects on behalf of Durrell. She currently coordinates three endangered species studbooks.




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      Liz Purgal

      Academy Administrator

      Liz is responsible for all the administrative processes for prospective students from initial enquiry and application, to post-course evaluation. She is responsible for marketing the courses, in addition to monitoring and evaluation both in terms of course content and participants' professional development. Liz is a Marketing & Communications professional who studied Environment & Conservation at Manchester University; during her career and since moving to Jersey in 2004 she has worked in both private and public sectors.




      Samara P. El-Haddad

      Conservation Training Officer

      Samara is a British-Lebanese zoologist who bridges knowledge gaps in under-resourced regions. Driven by a passion to empower others, she has spent six years making a significant impact in wildlife conservation, primarily in Lebanon. From studying critically endangered otter populations to wildlife rescue and rehabilitation, she has worked across various species and disciplines, including applied research and science communication. Now, as a Conservation Training Officer, she is eager to share her experience and ignite passion in new conservation leaders. By mentoring diverse individuals and equipping them with the skills and knowledge they need, we can create waves of positive change, ensuring conservation reaches even the most overlooked corners of the world."



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      Harriet Whitford

      Curator of Bird Department

      Harriet first joined Durrell’s Bird Department in 1999. Originally trained on all bird routines, she spends most of her time now working on the Wetland section. She is responsible for both the Meller’s duck and Madagascar teal studbook and has a keen interest in avian incubation. While developing and applying her incubation skills here, she has also applied her knowledge in-situ; incubating and hand rearing both the Madagascar fody and olive white-eye in Mauritius. Harriet regularly teaches bird husbandry and egg incubation skills.




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      Dr Eluned Price

      Zoo Research Manager

      Eluned first encountered Durrell as an undergraduate when she came to Jersey to do a short project on tamarins. After completing a PhD at the University of Stirling on cotton-top tamarins and carrying out field work on primates in Brazil, she returned to Durrell and became an experienced researcher and mammal keeper. Eluned is now responsible for co-ordinating all research carried out within Jersey Zoo.





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      Dr Mike Hudson

      Director of Conservation Knowledge

      Mike has a PhD on the conservation of the mountain chicken frog in the face of chytridiomycosis, a globally devastating fungal disease responsible for hundreds of amphibian extinctions. Mike’s work focusses on the science underpinning the conservation of Durrell’s species across the world, and includes work on a range of taxa from amphibians to mammals, reptiles and birds. Mike is especially interested in the monitoring of threatened species and loves spending time in the field with Durrell’s dedicated field teams.



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      Prof Carl Jones MBE

      Chief Scientist

      Carl has worked on the islands of Mauritius and Rodrigues since 1979, now based partly in the UK, he is responsible for leading programmes to save the endangered endemic bats and birds of the Mascarenes, including the Rodrigues fruit bat, Mauritius pink pigeon, Mauritius kestrel and echo parakeet. He is currently directing the recovery of Mauritius passerines (in particular the Mauritius fody and olive white-eye) and the conservation of several endemic reptiles, and restoring plant communities. In recognition for his outstanding contribution to species contribution, Carl won the prestigious 2016 Indianapolis Prize – awarded to the world’s greatest conservationists.




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      Hanitra Andrianantenaina

      Madagascar Training Officer

      Hanitra Nomentsoa Andrianantenaina joined in 2020 as Durrell's new Madagascar Conservation Training Officer. Based in Antananarivo, she works closely alongside Durrell’s existing Madagascar conservation staff, and is leading the design and delivery of our new training programme to build capacity among individuals and organisations involved in the co-management of Madagascar’s Protected Areas. Hanitra has an extensive background in conservation and capacity building, having worked most recently for GIZ in Madagascar.




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      Dr Bela Barata

      Field Programmes Officer

      With a PhD in Biodiversity Management by the University of Kent, Bela expertise is population dynamics and monitoring. She is interested in ecology and conservation of species and their habitats, with special focus in rare and threatened tropical species. Bela has developed models that investigate population trends, improve the design of long-term monitoring programmes, and predict areas of occurrence of new populations of range-restricted species. With great enthusiasm Bela always puts scientific knowledge into practice in order to better inform habitat management and improve species conservation.




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      Dr Nik Cole

      Islands Restoration Manager

      Nik’s work with Mauritian Wildlife Foundation (MWF) and the Mauritian Government’s National Parks and Conservation Service, focuses upon the restoration of island ecosystems, through the reintroduction of threatened fauna and flora to rebuild native communities, the use of analogue species to restore lost ecological interactions, and the management and removal of invasive species. Primarily located in Mauritius, Nik has a PhD from the University of Bristol and is involved with research and restoration projects within the Indian Ocean and Caribbean.





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      Daniel Craven

      Volunteer Manager

      Daniel is the current chairman of BIAZA Volunteers Managers Working Group and member of BIAZA MEC. He enjoys working on design of conservation workshops and meetings for a variety of internal and external clients including Durrell’s fundraising, operations, education and mammal teams, MWF and BIAZA. Daniel is Durrell’s full time Volunteer Manager and soccer fan, part time facilitator and filmmaker. For the Academy he specialises in teaching facilitation and communications skills for conservation.






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      Luke Jones

      Caribbean Regional Programmes Manager

      Luke has a particular interest in using knowledge gained from ex-situ conservation work and research, to inform and develop in-situ rewilding strategies. Having trained with Durrell in Mauritius on the Endangered Species Recovery PGDip course, that combined both aspects of field work and theory, he was later recruited as a research assistant and ultimately Project Coordinator for the Mountain Chicken Recovery Programme; during which time he spent 3 years working to  reintroduce the critically endangered mountain chicken frog to Montserrat through development novel habitat manipulation techniques designed to counter the impacts of lethal amphibian chytrid fungus. Today, Luke is based in St. Lucia where he works alongside local partners to develop and implement novel conservation strategies for endemic species such as the St. Lucian racer snake, whiptail, iguana & white breasted thrasher.




      Martine Goder

      Head of Durrell Conservation Training, Mauritius.  

      Martine leads the internship programme in Mauritius, supports the Madagascar conservation training team and is leading the professional development programmes for conservation practitioners in the Southwest Indian Ocean region. She holds a MSc in Conservation Leadership and prior to joining Durrell worked for the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation managing both the Flora Programme and Education Programme. She has more than 18 years’ experience in conservation, specialising in forest and ecosystem restoration; recovery and in-situ & ex-situ management of highly threatened endemic reptile and plant species of Mauritius; invasive species management; ecological replacement; and education & community outreach.



      Teesha Baboorun

      Mauritius Training Coordinator  

      Teesha coordinates the Island Restoration Internship programme, and assists with other training activities. She holds a BSc in Agriculture and Specialisation in aquaculture and has 10 years’ experience working on various conservation projects on small islands. Previously she worked as a CEPF project leader and as the assistant conservation officer on the biodiversity hotspot Silhouette Island in the Seychelles. She has also worked for Mauritian Wildlife Foundation on several of its bird projects and as coordinator of the MWF Flora project. 



      jess Jess Sweeney

      Field Programmes Delivery and Impact Manager

      Jess has worked in Conservation for 8 years in the areas of project design, impact evaluation, grant management and fundraising, since studying an MSc in Conservation Science at Imperial College London. Before this, Jess worked in advertising with a focus on the design and implementation of behaviour change campaigns for government clients and seeks to apply and share this knowledge to influence behaviour relating to wildlife trade and sustainable use of resources.






      Felana Rafetrason

      Madagascar Project Officer

      Felana joined Durrell Madagascar in 2022 as a Project Officer for an initiative that aims to strengthen the capacities of Protected Area managers. Prior to this, she studied Forestry and Environment, Environmental Impact Assessment and has always been involved in several associations for biodiversity conservation in her country. In addition, Felana has previously worked for an international NGO focused on capacity building. This allowed her to gain experience in training activities such as designing and developing modules and delivering trainings, which covered not only conservation issues but also managerial and entrepreneurial themes."




      Narindra Tsilavina Ratovonirina 

      Madagascar Project Assistant 

      Narindra joined Durrell in 2022 as a project assistant for the Darwin initiative funded project. Based in Antananarivo, he will assist Felana (project coordinator) and Hanitra in the development of the project aimed at capacity building and exchange visits for protected area managers with his experiences gained while working in the Lafa Forum project within Wild Conservation Society (WCS)."