​OUR TEAM
OUR TEAM
Nico Arcilla
President & Research Director
Nico Arcilla is an avian ecologist and conservation biologist with 25 years of experience leading research and conservation projects on birds and other wildlife in response to human impacts. She has worked in the Americas, Africa and Madagascar, Europe and the Middle East, and the Pacific and Caribbean islands, including positions with the Smithsonian Institution, Zoological Society of London, Drexel University, American Samoa Government, and the Crane Trust. She earned her BA from Yale University, MS from Cornell University, and PhD from the University of Georgia.
Shan Su
Parr Postdoctoral Fellow
Shan Su is a biologist with research interests in the pet and wildlife trade and biological invasions. At the University of Oxford, UK, she has conducted research on the links between trade in donkey skin for Traditional Chinese Medicine and wildlife trade between Africa, South America, and Asia. She earned her MSc in Conservation and Biodiversity at the University of Exeter, and her PhD at University College London, both in the UK, where she studied biological invasions driven by the bird trade in Taiwan. As Research Fellow, she facilitates IBCP research on wildlife trade and conservation. For more information:
Kaboumba Lin-Ernni Mikégaba
Kaboumba is a master’s student in avian ecology at the University of Lomé, working under animal ecologist Professor Komlan Afiademanyo. They have been working with IBCP Postdoctoral Fellow Olivier Boissier to assess birds, their habitats, and threats to their conservation in Fazao-Malfakassa National Park, Togo’s largest protected area. Kaboumba has also assisted IBCP field surveys to investigate bird responses to land managemnt in the Savannes region of northern Togo.
Conservation Scientist, Togo
Alex Glass
Faculty Affiliate
Alex Glass is an Assistant Professor of Wildlife Biology at Lees-McRae College in North Carolina. He earned his PhD at Southern Illinois University, where he studies the ecology of grassland birds and their nest predators in restored prairies. He received his BA in environmental studies from Eckerd College, after which he worked as a field technician on avian research projects across the midwestern U.S., and served as an environmental education volunteer in Mexico with the US Peace Corps. He is broadly interested in avian and restoration ecology, and improving human land use actions to mitigate negative effects on bird communities. He contributes to IBCP projects in the Great Plains of North America and tropical forests of Peru.
Yendoubouam Kourdjouak
Project Manager, West Africa
A member of the Moba indigenous people of Togo, Yendoubouam Kourdjouak studied zoology at the University of Lomé, Togo. Now based in Lomé where he is a successful entrepreneur, Yendoubouam facilitates and assists IBCP bird research, outreach, and partnerships in Togo, including in Fazao-Malfakassa National Park and Togodo Wildlife Reserve.
Irene Di Lecce
Graduate Research Fellow
Irene Di Lecce is a PhD student at the University of Warsaw, Poland, where she studies promiscuity of passerine birds breeding in natural cavities in a primeval and urban forest, and in nest-boxes set in a gradient of urbanisation. She earned her MSc in Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Milan, Italy, with a thesis on the impact of ectoparasites and their pathogens on migratory songbirds. She has recently started collaborating with IBCP, as she is interested in focusing her future research on conservation issues.
Alex Trifunovic
Outreach Fellow
Alex Trifunovic is a recent graduate of Lees-McRae College where he earned his BS in Wildlife Biology studying pollinator diversity and phenology in the southern Appalachian Mountains. Alex started birding when he was five years old, and his passion for birds and nature has taken him all over the United States and southern Europe. He enjoys sharing nature with others both in the field and through photography. Alex is an active cyclist and often goes birding by bike. He will be starting his first field season as a breeding bird technician in North Carolina, and he hopes to one day acquire his MS and PhD with a focus on avian ecology.
Benjamín Salazar Samecash
Research Affiliate
Benjamín Salazar Samecash is a biologist who earned his BS and MSc degrees at the National University of San Marcos, Lima, and is an indigenous Awajún (Aguaruna-Jívaro) community member in Santa Maria de Nieva, Amazonas, Peru. His work focuses on indigenous knowledge of bird taxonomy, ecology and conservation.
​
His master’s thesis focused on indigenous systems of bird classification in titled Awajún communities on the Nieva river. For the past several years, he has been conducting the first scientific assessments of birds and their conservation status on the Nieva river in collaboration with members of the Awajún communities of Agkais, Ugkum, and Saasa. He is also documenting Awajún traditional stories about birds and other animals that relate to biodiversity conservation.
Kristen Rosamond
Research Associate
Kristen Rosamond is a PhD student at the University of Missouri-St. Louis where she is researching avian disease ecology. She earned her MS and BS degrees from Tulane University, during which she studied relationships between the morphology and foraging behaviors of warblers. Her interests include the ecology and conservation of birds, in particular shorebirds and seabirds, and scientific outreach and education. She has worked with IBCP on researching the responses of Neotropical songbirds, especially Dickcissels and Boboblinks, to climate and management variables in the North American Great Plains, including bison reintroduction. She has also investigated the ecology of differential migration, where birds of different sexes and ages exhibit different migration patterns, in shorebirds and one of their major predator species, Peregrine Falcons.
Saint Guillaume K. Odoukpe
Faculty Affiliate
Saint Guillaume K. ODOUKPE is an avian ecologist and conservation biologist with over ten years of experience leading research and conservation projects on birds, both in their natural environment and in agro-ecosystems. He is also interested in bird migration and the illegal bird trade in Côte d'Ivoire. To encourage inclusive management of natural resources, he raises awareness, builds capacity and works with local communities living near key biodiversity conservation areas to defend their rights and get effectively involved in biodiversity conservation.
​
Saint Guillaume holds a PhD in Tropical Ecology from the Felix Houphouet-Boigny University (Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire), where he is currently Assistant Professor. His PhD thesis focused on the structure of bird communities in rice fields and their impact on rice growing in the Grand-Bassam wetland in Côte d'Ivoire, and has also been conducting research on the White-necked Rockfowl (Picathartes gymnocephalus), an endemic West African species, with the support of IBCP.
Djekadjim Djekillamber
Research Associate
Djekadjim Djekillamber earned his bachelor's degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Doba, Chad, and his master's degree in Ecology and Biodiversity Conservation at the University of Maroua, Cameroon. After completing his graduate studies, he underwent an ornithology training course in field identification and survey methods in Benin and Togo, under the supervision of Dr. Abiola Sylvestre Chaffra. Since then, Djekadjim has been conducting vulture research at 10 slaughterhouses in N'Djamena, including monitoring birds and conducting interviews. He also serves as a part-time teacher in higher education.
Brandon Franta
Research Fellow
Brandon Franta is an avian ecologist and spatial analyst researching local conservation views of a sacred forest in northern Togo. He also received a Fulbright research grant to collaborate with these communities to protect the forest and further understand its bird and woody plant diversity. Brandon graduated from Emporia State University, where he studied the relationship between old bison wallows and migrating shorebirds in the North American Great Plains, and analyzed breeding bird locations in relation to habitat within Ioway Tribal National Park. From 2017 to 2019, he served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in northern and southern Togo. In 2025 he will return to Togo for fieldwork on birds, habitat, and conservation in and around Fazao-Malfakassa National Park.
Colin Jensen
Graduate Research Associate
Colin Jensen is a master’s student studying International Nature Conservation at the University of Göttingen in Germany. He is originally from Idaho and attributes his love for birds to the countless hours he spent birdwatching there as a child.
Colin’s passion for birds and conservation research has taken him to projects in the US, the Middle East, Europe, the South Pacific, and more recently, Africa. He is currently working with IBCP on his thesis project, which is focused on investigating the impact of poaching on hornbill populations in the tropical forests of Cameroon.
Lars H. Holbech
Faculty Affiliate
Lars Haubye Holbech is an Associate Professor in the Department of Animal Biology and Conservation Science at the University of Ghana, Legon, where he has taught and supervised student research for nearly 20 years. He earned his MSc in Biology and PhD in Zoology from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. His research specialties include the impacts of selective logging on forest birds and mammals, threats to and conservation status of forest birds, and integrated wildlife and land-use management in Ghana. He also has substantial experience and expertise on the subjects of avian biology and ecology, forest bird vocalizations, and bushmeat and hunting in African tropical forest biomes. Lars contributes to IBCP research, outreach, and conservation through advising graduate student research projects in both Ghana and Cameroon.
Abiola Sylvestre Chaffra
Research Associate
Abiola Sylvestre Chaffra is a geographer and specialist in mapping and biodiversity conservation, particularly birds and their habitats and the author of numerous scientific publications, particularly on the birds of Benin. In 2013, he completed his Master's degree in Physical Geography at the Faculty of Geography and Land Use Planning at the University of Abomey-Calavi in ​​Benin. From 2011 to 2014, he completed an academic and professional internship in the fields of cartography, Geographic Information Systems and environmental management at the Center for Sustainable Environment in Africa. He then received a UNESCO scholarship to pursue a Master's in Integrated Management of Tropical Forests and Lands at the University of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. In 2020, he earned his PhD from the University of Abomey-Calavi in ​​environmental geosciences with a specialization in cartography applied to the biogeographic analysis of birds and the nesting of herons (Ardeidae) in southern Benin. With IBCP, he has been conducting research on waterbirds, raptors, and birds in fetish markets in Benin, and has also led training and participated in ornithology exchange visits with colleagues in Chad, Togo, Ghana, and Côte d’Ivoire.
Zébigou Kolani
Research Affiliate
A farmer, public health officer, and member of the indigenous Moba and Mamprusi communities, Zébigou is based in the Savannes region of northern Togo. His wildlife research experience includes using constant-effort mist netting and camera traps to quantify rain forest birds and mammals in Ghana, and he is currently conducting vulture surveys in Togo. Zébigou organizes community tree planting and other restoration efforts and assists IBCP bird research, outreach, and partnerships in Togo and Ghana.
Victor Juep Bakuants
Research Affiliate
A member of the Awajún indigenous people of Peru, Victor studied agricultural engineering at the National University of San Martin, Tarapoto, and the National University of Agraria de la Selva. He then pursued graduate studies in ecology and environmental management at the University of Ricardo Palma, Lima, and in the environment and sustainable development at the Universidad Nacional Federico Villarreal. Victor has 25 years of professional experience, primarily focused on development opportunities for his Awajún people and their knowledge in the forest environment. He currently serves as Director of the Communal Reserve of Chayu Nain, working with 11 Awajún communities adjacent to the reserve in the department of Amazonas, on behalf of the Peru’s National System of Natural Protected Areas. Victor facilitates and assists IBCP projects in Awajún territories and protected areas in Peru.
Grzegorz Walczak
Cameraman
A longtime resident of Ghana, Greg has a passion for nature conservation and a talent for wildlife photography. He assists IBCP's efforts in Mole National Park, Ghana’s largest protected area, as a photographer, driver, and research volunteer. Greg has contributed to IBCP bird surveys, helped deploy camera traps for mammal sampling, and produced many high quality wildlife photographs during our fieldwork. These photos have been used to produce hundreds of informational brochures and posters of birds and mammals that IBCP has donated to assist conservation awareness in and around Mole National Park.
OUR BOARD
Nico Arcilla
Nico Arcilla is an avian ecologist and conservation biologist with 25 years of experience leading research and conservation projects on birds and other wildlife in response to human impacts. She has worked in the Americas, Africa and Madagascar, Europe and the Middle East, and the Pacific and Caribbean islands, including positions with the Smithsonian Institution, Zoological Society of London, American Samoa Government, Drexel University, and the Crane Trust. She earned her B.A. from Yale University, her M.S. from Cornell University, and PhD from the University of Georgia.
Colleen O'Brien Cherry
Colleen Cherry has 25 years of experience working in various international and domestic settings on cultural and conservation issues. Her academic background is interdisciplinary, including a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Geography, a Master of Science in Natural Resource Management, and a PhD in Environmental and Ecological Anthropology. Dr. Cherry uses this background to investigate culture change and its effect on the environment and health.
Traugott Lawler
Traugott Lawler is Professor Emeritus of English at Yale University. He is a specialist in Medieval English literature. He studied at Holy Cross, the University of Wisconsin, and Harvard, where he was awarded the PhD in 1966. He taught at Yale 1966-72, at Northwestern 1972-81, and at Yale again from 1981 until his retirement in 2005. At Yale he was Master of Ezra Stiles College 1986-95 and 2002-3. He is the author of The One and the Many in the Canterbury Tales(1981), one of the editors of the Riverside Chaucer, and editor of various other medieval English and Latin works.
In recent years he has written extensively on Piers Plowman, and published volume 4 of The Penn Commentary on Piers Plowman in 2018. He has been married for over 60 years to Peggy Thormann Lawler, and they have four children and eight grandchildren. His mother taught him to know the birds and love them, and he always has.
Susan Dauphine
Susan Dauphine is a Judge of the Superior Court of the State of California, currently retired. She served as a judge in Monterey County for almost 16 years, presiding over juvenile, civil, criminal. and family law cases. Before that she practiced law for 23 years as a partner in a law firm in Monterey, California, and in Massachusetts and Minnesota.
She is a cum laude graduate of Stanford University and Columbia School of Law. She also studied at the University of Guadalajara in Mexico and taught commercial law for 2 years to marines and sailors in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. She has been President of the Monterey County Bar Association and started a foundation as President to provide legal services to those in need. She’s served on numerous nonprofit Boards and is a member of Rotary International and International Women’s Forum.
She has explored the world in a lifelong search to understand its people and creatures and strongly believes our birds and other endangered species must be protected.
Lyn Gubser
Lyn Gubser is a specialist in interactive training with a background in higher education accreditation, research, and evaluation. He served as Dean and Professor of Education at Western Illinois University and Associate Dean for Research at the University of Arizona. He earned his PhD and MS at the University of Oregon, and his bachelor’s degree in zoology and Asian studies at Oregon State University. He has served on boards including the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Walt Disney's EPCOT Center, and the Cupp Foundation, and is presently active in urban forest rehabilitation and ecosystem degradation prevention.
Ola Svensson
Ola Svensson is a research engineer at Stockholm University with a specialization in marine environmental monitoring. He conducted his Master’s research on benthic invertebrate community responses to banana farming practices in Costa Rica, and spent three years in the Federated States of Micronesia working at the Micronesian Maritime and Fisheries Academy. He has a lifelong interest in nature, conservation, and international development.