Interviews

CLP is proud to have supported some of the leading lights in conservation and it is always a great pleasure to find out how their careers are progressing.

Past award winners often credit CLP with catalysing their successful careers. Many of them are now working full time in the conservation sector within national and international NGOs, universities, research organisations and private companies as biodiversity consultants. Several CLP alumni are now directing country-wide, regional and global programmes of work.

Looking out for birds in Brazil

Tatiana Pongiluppi, April 2020

Tatiana Pongiluppi is an expert on Brazilian birds. She runs a birdwatching company in Brazil and leads expeditions for tourists all over the country. Thirteen years ago, Tatiana started out...Read interview with Tatiana Pongiluppi

Believe in yourself and do it

Nelly Isigi Kadagi , October 2019

Dr Nelly Isigi Kadagi is Director of Research for the African Billfish Foundation (ABF) and the Co-Principal Investigator for the BILLFISH-WIO project. She recently completed her Ph.D. from the University...Read interview with Nelly Isigi Kadagi

Big picture thinking

Jean Paul Ntungane, May 2019

In 2011, Jean Paul Ntungane joined the Conservation Leadership Programme alumni network via his CLP internship with BirdLife International in Rwanda. Today he is project manager for the Critical Ecosystem...Read interview with Jean Paul Ntungane

Highlights and high hopes

Kulbhushansingh Suryawanshi, November 2018

Spending time in the Himalaya gives Kulbhushansingh Suryawanshi tremendous joy. Read about his career to date and the ways he is working to protect his snow leopard companions and the...Read interview with Kulbhushansingh Suryawanshi

The Butterfly Effect

Blanca Huertas and Jorge Velásquez, August 2018

An initial encounter in Beijing almost a decade ago, facilitated through CLP travel grants, ultimately paved the way for collaboration between two Colombian CLP alumni, Blanca Huertas and Jorge Velásquez,...Read interview with Blanca Huertas and Jorge Velásquez

Being the change

Renata Ferrari Legorreta, March 2018

Meet Renata Ferrari Legorreta, Ph.D., a marine ecologist and ecosystem modeler at the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences. Renata’s research seeks to understand the dynamics of marine habitats and species...Read interview with Renata Ferrari Legorreta

Sowing the seeds

Cristina López-Gallego, December 2017

In 2009, Colombian biologist Professor Cristina López-Gallego and two fellow botanists won a Conservation Leadership Programme (CLP) team award to assess the status of – and put together an action...Read interview with Cristina López-Gallego

Saving species in Sulawesi

Iwan Hunowu, September 2017

In 1996, the Conservation Leadership Programme (CLP) funded Action Sampiri, a project to study the endemic, and elusive, birds of North Sulawesi’s Talaud and Sangihe islands. For research team...Read interview with Iwan Hunowu

Batman begins

Vu Dinh Thong, March 2017

In 2001, the Conservation Leadership Programme (CLP) funded a project led by Vu Dinh Thong to study the diversity and status of bats in Vietnam’s Bach Ma National Park. This...Read interview with Vu Dinh Thong

One giant leap

Mirza Kusrini, October 2016

In 2004, the Conservation Leadership Programme (CLP) funded a project led by Dr Mirza Kusrini to research frog diversity in one of the last pristine forests on the densely populated...Read interview with Mirza Kusrini