Join Women for Conservation and Population Connection to commemorate World Rainforest Day!
Join this discussion and learn about the incredible work of Women for Conservation in Colombia, CTPH in Uganda, and Lemur Love in Madagascar.
Discover how Isabella Cortés’ passion for conservation, art, and gender empowerment resonates throughout our critical work.
Date: Thursday, June 27th
Time: 2 pm ET/11 am PT
Oradores
Isabella Cortés
Executive Director, Women for Conservation
Isabella is a passionate conservationist, committed feminist, performer, and artist of Indigenous ancestry born in Popayán, Cauca, Colombia. She is the Executive Director for Women for Conservation, a nonprofit that empowers women in rural communities around Key Biodiversity Areas. As an artist and musician, she uses her creative forces to advocate for endangered species protection, the conservation of ecosystems, the rights of Indigenous communities, reproductive rights, and LGBTQIA+ rights.
She has a BS in Wildlife and Fisheries Management and Conservation Ecology from West Virginia University and an MS in Natural Resource Conservation from the University of Kent in England. Isabella also has the great honor of being the namesake for a hummingbird species, Eriocnemis isabellae, listed on the IUCN Red List as Critically Endangered.
Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka
Founder & CEO, Conservation Through Public Health
Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka is the Founder and CEO of Conservation Through Public Health, an award-winning NGO that uses a One Health approach to protect endangered mountain gorillas and other wildlife. She established Uganda Wildlife Authority’s first veterinary department and founded CTPH in 2003 after researching diseases at the human/wildlife/livestock interface. In 2015, she founded Gorilla Conservation Coffee to support farmers living around gorilla habitats.
Dr. Gladys has won numerous awards through CTPH and Gorilla Conservation Coffee, including the 2017 President of Uganda’s Golden Jubilee Award and the 2021 UNEP Champions of the Earth Award in Science and Innovation. She is also an author and sits on several boards, including the WHO SAGO and the International Livestock Research Institute One Health Research, Education and Outreach Centre in Africa. Dr. Gladys is the winner of the 2022 Edinburgh Medal for her work in Planetary Health and the 2022 Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson Global Leadership Prize, and she is a finalist for the 2023 Indianapolis Prize.
Dr. Marni LaFleur
Founder & Director·Lemur Love
Dr. Marni started Lemur Love as a mechanism to protect lemurs in southwestern Madagascar, after witnessing deforestation and poaching of wild ring-tailed lemurs. She now recognizes that conservation is much more about humans than animals and that the historical, political, and social influences within Madagascar are important considerations to conservation agendas.
In addition to being a member of the IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group and the IUCN SSC IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group Section for Human-Primate Interactions, Dr. Marni is also an Associate Professor at the University of San Diego, where she teaches Biological Anthropology. She is passionate about the rights of both animals and humans, fairness, and equity, and aims to instill these values in her students.
Source: Population Connection
