Many people are involved in the EDGE of Existence Programme’s activities, developing EDGE lists, mentoring EDGE Fellows, and initiating conservation projects for poorly-known and neglected EDGE species.
Questions, comments or feedback? Contact us at info@edgeofexistence.org
Media enquiries? Contact our Specialist Press Office: press.office@zsl.org
Dr. Paul Barnes
Paul is the EDGE Programme Manager. He is responsible for the strategy, programme activities and fundraising. He also helps the EDGE Fellows understand their projects’ social and political context. Paul has a PhD in environmental anthropology, during which time he was a member of the human ecology research group at UCL Anthropology. For his PhD, Paul explored cross-culturally informed interdisciplinary research about indigenous and local knowledge, its position in conservation, and the political ecology of conservation in the Cyclops Mountains, home to several EDGE species.
Dr. Rikki Gumbs
Rikki is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Zoology and lead scientist for EDGE and works to incorporate the latest scientific advances into our prioritisation protocol. This includes updating our existing EDGE lists, creating new EDGE lists, expanding the scope of EDGE Zones, and developing new approaches to identifying priority species. Rikki’s research also explores the relationship between phylogenetic diversity, trait diversity, and extinction risk. He oversees our many MSc students projects and supervises several EDGE PhD students. Rikki is passionate about the conservation of reptiles and supports our EDGE Fellowship and scale-up projects.
Dr. Davi Teles
Davi is the EDGE Regional Projects Manager for the Americas. He provides training and supervision for current EDGE fellows and assists EDGE alums in this region. He also supports EDGE projects, such as the long-term monitoring and community engagement work for the pygmy sloth in Panama. Davi firmly believes in local capacity building as an effective conservation tool and has been directly involved in biodiversity conservation research and action since 2007. He coordinated part of a community-based monitoring program inside Amazonian protected areas and, more recently, was involved in evaluating the influence of politics on environmental protection in Brazil.
Dr. Jyoti Das
Jyoti is the Regional Projects Manager for Asia. He provides training and supervision and acts as a mentor for EDGE fellows in his region. He has years of experience in research and conservation of Asian elephants in North East India. For his PhD, he studied the habitat ecology of Asian elephants in a tropical forest. His research interests span population monitoring in tropical forests, human-wildlife conflict and developing conservation protocols in transboundary landscapes. He is also a member of various conservation groups, such as the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) Capacity Development, Connectivity Conservation, Transboundary Conservation, and Management Effectiveness.
Dr. Caleb Ofori
Caleb is the EDGE Regional Projects Manager for Africa. In this role, he provides training and supervision to current EDGE Fellows and offers support to EDGE alumni in the region. A passionate amphibian biologist and conservationist from Ghana, Caleb has extensive experience in teaching, fundraising, and managing conservation projects. His research has led to the discovery and description of new amphibian species. Caleb founded Ghana’s first amphibian and reptile conservation NGO and spearheaded the establishment of a municipal-level protected area for the Togo slippery frog, an EDGE species that was also the focus of his EDGE Fellowship from 2013 to 2015. He holds a PhD in Wildlife Management from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana.
Carly D’Costa
Carly is the EDGE Storyteller responsible for developing compelling stories to engage readers and empower them to take action. Using a range of information and data sources, she creates stories to communicate the work we are undertaking worldwide. This involves creating social media content, newsletters, conservation highlights and blogs for the website. Prior to working with EDGE, Carly worked in project coordination and management for nearly 10 years, with the prior five years working within the international NGO sector.
Collaborators
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Prof James Rosindell, Imperial College London
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Dr Ben Tapley, ZSL
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Dr Nick Isaac, Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
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Dr Monni Bohm, Institute of Zoology
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Dr Robin Freeman, Institute of Zoology
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Dr Dave Redding, University College London
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Prof Sam Turvey, Institute of Zoology
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Prof Arne Mooers, Simon Fraser University
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Dr Walter Jetz, Yale University
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Dr Dan Faith, Australian Museum
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Dr Will Pearse, Imperial College London
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Dr Caroline Tucker, University of North Carolina
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Dr Felix Forest, Kew Gardens
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Dr Kamran Safi, Max Planck Institute of Ornithology
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Dr Gavin Thomas, University of Sheffield
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Prof Mike Steel, University of Canterbury
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Prof Kate Jones, University College London
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IUCN Shark Specialist Group
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BirdLife International