SOS Staff
Lucy Wisdom, SOS Founding Director, UK and Indonesia.
Lucy Wisdom co-founded the Sumatran Orangutan Society (SOS) in 1997 after working as a long-term volunteer at the Bohorok Centre where she dedicated her life to the conservation and welfare of the Sumatran orangutan. Lucy's eclectic career includes a stint as a trapeze artist, which made her an ideal surrogate mum for young rehabilitants, climbing trees and weaving "nests" from broken branches to encourage the youngsters to learn wild orangutan skills.
In addition to work in the field, Lucy turned her attentions to the set-up of SOS as a viable international charity, recognising that to move forward, she must focus her sights less on the individual and more on the larger conservation picture. "To me, every orangutan is an ambassador for its species. And the Sumatran orangutan is an ambassador for its rainforest."
Lucy focused her immediate efforts on public awareness and on raising funds for maintenance and supplies for the Bohorok Centre, eventually widening SOS's scope to providing funding support and equipment to the new re-introduction facility. SOS has also supported the setup of the Orangutan Information Centre in Medan, North Sumatra. SOS continues to support the above projects, and strives to further expand their activities as Lucy and her team fight against the clock to raise awareness and funds for critically endangered Sumatran orangutans.
Helen Buckland, UK Branch Coordinator
Helen Buckland joined the SOS team in the UK at the end of 2005, having spent the previous two years working for various conservation organisations. Helen has a Masters degree in Primate Conservation, and has had a wide range of jobs in the past, from being a zoo keeper to writing a report for Friends of the Earth and the Ape Alliance: "The Oil for Ape Scandal - How Palm Oil is Threatening the Orangutan". Helen conducted research in Central Kalimantan in Borneo for her MSc dissertation, examining the impact of the expansion of oil palm plantations on the conservation status of orangutans.
Jo Butler,UK Assistant Coordinator
Jo joined the SOS team in October 2007 to help with the fast-growing workloa
d of the UK branch. She completed an MSc in Animal Behaviour in 2004, and has worked with various monkey and ape species in different capacities ever since, starting out as a behavioural researcher studying wild capuchin monkeys in Costa Rica. More recently she decided to switch her focus from behavioural research to helping with the conservation effort of some of the worlds most endangered primates, and was involved in a project in Nigeria, working towards the conservation of drill monkeys and chimpanzees. Jo's specific interest in working for SOS stems from her first encounter with wild apes when visiting Sumatra in 2003, and has ever since been determined to help with the Sumatran orangutan's plight.
Dave Dellatore, SOS-OIC Coordinator, Medan
Dave first worked in Indonesia in 2001, volunteering with an orangutan
organisation in Kalimantan until 2003. He has a BA in biological
anthropology and for his final project towards an MSc in Primate
Conservation conducted behavioural research focusing on the ex-captive
orangutans living near Bukit Lawang, North Sumatra.
He joined the team in April 2008 at our project headquarters in Medan.
"I have come to see firsthand
the need for and the potential power of environmental education.
Therefore I view the programmes run by the Indonesian staff of the
SOS-OIC office here on the ground in Medan as absolutely essential and
extremely important. It is only through raising awareness and
inspiring people to embrace conservation, in both national and
international visitors, that the orangutan has a chance at survival."
Claire Thompson, Scientific Liason Officer
Claire first visited Indonesia in 2003 where she was a volunteer with an orangutan conservation organisation in Central Kalimantan. Shesubsequently returned to Indonesia over the next several years throughout both her undergraduate and Masters courses, where her focus was upon the singing and locomotive behaviour of agile gibbons. She moved to Sumatra in 2007, where she took on the role of
Scientific Liaison Officer in the Medan branch of SOS-OIC.
Claire believes that in order to conserve an endangered species, there needs to be a collaboration between education and proactive conservation efforts and feels that with her broad academic and field-research background, she is in a position where she can make a positive difference.
"Although we're at a crucial crossroads in terms of the environment and many feel that the future is bleak, all we can do is keep trying and believe that our efforts are having an impact".
Dewi Kastari, Office Manager, Bali Branch
Dewi has worked with SOS for over two years, overseeing the operation of our office in Ubud, Bali.
Avanti Mallapur, US Branch Coordinator
Avanti joined SOS in January 2007 as the US Branch Coordinator.
"Wildlife fascinates me. My passion ever since I was a child has driven me to work with wildlife. I have had the opportunity to work with several different species of primates and carnivores and am extremely excited about working with the SOS family to save Sumatran Orangutans. My experience and qualifications in wildlife conservation and animal welfare help me assist both free-ranging and captive wildlife management. I hope to use my experience to help contribute to developing SOS's programmes, raising funds for future projects and supporting conservation awareness programs."
Gail Angela Smith, Consultant
Gail joined SOS in June 2004 to help with the extra workload the UK office was dealing with, as SOS has grown dramatically in the past few years. Gail has a degree in Zoology and a Masters in Primate Conservation. She spent two years in Borneo working with local communities and orangutan conservation,
and is particularly interested in human-wildlife conflict issues, having conducted research in Sumatra with local farmers. She is full of great ideas and has lots of experience in the field, having been actively involved in conservation for the last eight years. In August 2004, Gail became Coordinator of the SOS Orangutan Information Center (OIC) in Medan, Sumatra and has continued doing great work with SOS and OIC, including providing emergency aid and relief to the victims of the devastating Asian tsunami. Gail left the SOS-OIC in July 2006 to embark upon her PhD but remains an important part of the SOS family.
Karen Lawrence, Australia Branch Coordinator
Karen is originally from Melbourne and has an honors degree in Environmental Management. She is currently studying for her PhD in sociology concentrating on coastal development. Karen has spent 3 years travelling overseas and has visited all 7 continents on her journeys. Karen is a licensed wildlife caregiver as well as a licensed snake catcher (removing the unwanted 'guests' from people's houses for safe release in the wild, instead of having them killed). Additionally, Karen has been involved in various animal rights and environmental campaigns over the years including finding herself wading between guns and waterfowl in the wetlands of Australia.
Nick Major, New Zealand Branch Coordinator
Nick became interested in the work of the SOS after meeting Jan and Lucy at festivals in the UK. He felt an affinity for the apes as he is sometimes described as being similar in appearance (mostly by Rachel, his wife and SOS volunteer). He was actively involved in animal rights for several years; he also volunteered in a British wildlife hospital. He has a BSc (Hons) Biomedical Science and has worked with mammalian and avian viral diseases (including influenza). He is about to start retraining to become a secondary teacher in New Zealand where he relocated in December 2004, as he would love to pass on knowledge to future generations, including information on orang-utans and the crises facing their survival.