Who is Who at the WCF?

Christophe Boesch, founder and president of the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation, has studied the chimpanzees of Taï National Park in Côte d’Ivoire for over 20 years, and is presently directing the Department of Primatology at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. He is the author of many scientific publications on chimpanzee behavior

Hedwige Boesch-Achermann is the acting director of the WCF European representation. She lived for 12 years in Taï National Park, where she observed and analyzed the behavior of the Taï chimpanzees. She is co-author with Christophe Boesch of various publications.

Tobias Deschner came to the Taï-forest for the first time in 1995. He wrote his masters thesis on the Olive Colobus and in 1998 he started a PhD on the behaviour of the Taï chimpanzees. In the WCF he assists with public relation in Germany.

Virginie Vergnes joined the WCF in 2010 as a project coordinator of biomonitoring in Liberia, Guinee, and Côte d’Ivoire and conservation activities in Central Africa. She has completed a Master degrees in primatology (2003).

Claudia Borchers is the executive manager of the Club P.A.N. an environmental education program of the WCF. She does her PhD thesis about environmental education in West Africa.

Julia Riedel helped in 2003 with the habituation of chimpanzees in Taï forest. She is doing her PhD on female chimpanzee social relationships. She is supporting Club P.A.N. and a school exchange program between German and Ivorian schools.

Sebastien Regnaut is the program manager for the WCF activities in Guinea. He has established the office and the conservation programs in Conakry and other areas in the country and now oversees the scientific and managerial aspects. Sebastien has worked as a researcher and conservation geneticist in several universities in Europe, Asia and the middle east.

Mamadou Samba Barry (Conservation Program Officer) completed his master's degree in Alexandria, Egypt, in Environmental Science. He has worked with several programs in Guinea for institutional support and environmental conservation. He joined the WCF in 2008 and helped establishing and conducting the bio-monitoring programs. Samba is now co-leading the inventories in Guinea.

Floris Aubert (Science Program Officer) did her master's degree in 2008 in Neuroscience and Ethology. She joined the WCF in 2010 as a volunteer research assistant and since 2011 is co-leading the inventories in Guinea.

Foromo Doré (Biomonitoring Program Officer) is a Water and Forestry Engineer from the VGE school in Faranah, Guinea. He joined the WCF in 2008 as an ecologue. Since 2010, Foromo supervises biomonitoring campaigns.

Data Collection Teams Guinea (Officers and Ecologues)
The field teams comprise 15 WCF ecologues from Mohbi, 6 officers (graduates or engineers: Amadou Balde, Abdoulaye Soumah, Kabinet Conde, Amadou Keita, Siddy Diallo, Assanne Beavogui), 3 deputy officers (Saidou Barry, Boubacar Diallo, Aissatou Barry), 1 research assistant (Petra Sichova), 1 paramedic (Lucien Lamah), 2 trackers (Aliou Bah, Bailo Bah), 2 representatives of the Ministry of Environment (Salian Traore & Moussa Kaba). They are supported by 3 drivers (Zike Diallo, Abdoulaye Barry, Thierno Balde) and 2 camp auxiliaries (Hassatou Barry, Mamadou Dian Barry)

Ilka Herbinger has directed the African Office of the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation in Abidjan from 2004 till June 2011.

Francis Lauginie was the first representative of the WCF for West Africa from the beginning of 2001 until the end of 2003.

Fabrice Fayd’Herbe de Maudave was the co-founder and vice-president of the WCF.

Emmanuelle Normand has studied wild chimpanzees in the Taï forest since 2002 and did her PhD on chimpanzees’ spatial cognition. She established the WCF program of conservation and sustainable management in two classified forests in Côte d’Ivoire. Since 2011 she is directing the West African Office of the WCF, situated in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

Dervla Dowd did her master degree in primate conservation and joined the WCF as a volunteer in 2008 to act as the assistant to the director of the African Office. Since 2011, she is the deputy director of the West African Office of the WCF in Abidjan.

Zoro Goné Bi Bertin has done a PhD in the Taï chimpanzee project. He is the Education Program Officer and coordinates the multi-media awareness campaigns around the various protected areas of West Africa, and he is in charge of the WCF-office logistics.

Paul N’Goran does a PhD on the development of biomonitoring programs in the Taï and Marahoué National Parks in Côte d’Ivoire. He is the biomonitoring program officer of the WCF.

Maho N'Gbesso René, with his degree in Sanitary and Environmental Engineering, has been a biomonitoring field officer for the WCF since 2006 in different protected areas of Côte d’Ivoire and West Africa.

Seydou Diarrassouba did his Master in Tropical Ecology with a specialization in fauna. From 2010 on, he is a field officer for the biomonitoring program in West Africa.

Zoro Gone Bi Irié Bérenger first joined the WCF as a volunteer and was recruited in 2010 as a biomonitoring Field Officer. He also assists for the logistic of the WCF Office.

Konan Kouakou Firmin did his degree in Ecology and Environment with a specialization in rural habitats management. He is working for the WCF since 2010, as a biomonitoring field officer.

Kouakou Yao Celestin is the WCF Pan-African coordinator for West Africa, a collaborative program with the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology to carry out nationwide surveys in all the countries where great Apes can be found. Celestin began working with the WCF back in 2005 for his PhD thesis.

N'Guessan Antoine does his PhD in the forest of Taï on the feeding ecology of chimpanzees. He helps with the implementation of education programs as well as coordinates various micro-projects set up around the Taï National Park for the local communities.

Gregoire Nohon is from the village of Ponan near Taï, Côte d'Ivoire. In 1986, he became the first African field assistant in the Taï chimpanzee project. Gregoire is now an expert in chimpanzee behavior. He is active in the WCF working particularly with projects involving schoolchildren and the villagers.

Hilaire Guilahoux and his collaborator Dabila Ouattara are based in Soubré next to the Taî National Park and coordinate the various school-children orientated activities, such as Club P.A.N.. They also supervise the small micro-projects, such as snail farms and cane rat farms that have been set up in various schools around the park.

Thomas Gelsi did a degree in Natural Resources Management with a focus on ecotourism and community-based conservation. He joined the Abidjan office of the WCF in 2010 as the assistant to the director. Since November 2011, he works as a liaison officer to support the development of the Guinean Office in Sangaredi.