SOS Staff
Lucy Wisdom, SOS Founder.
Lucy Wisdom 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 included 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 sadly died on 19th December 2009. Please click here to visit her tribute page.
Helen Buckland, UK Director
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.
Dave Dellatore, Scientific Director, 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."
Ida Bondoe, Communications and Outreach Officer
Ida Bondoe travelled to Sumatra in October 09 to visit the SOS projects on her way to the Bali branch where she volunteered for three months. Upon her return to the UK in March, she then joined the SOS UK office in Oxford. Ida has a BA in Journalism, and previously worked for BBC, Amnesty International and other UK and international charities. She specialises in branding, supporter recruitment and outreach, communications strategies and media relations, she is also an avid social media user and can usually be found online keeping supporters updated and integrated with SOS activities.
"I was really lucky that I had the chance to go out to Sumatra and get first-hand knowledge of the SOS projects out there. I had the chance to speak to villagers, plant rainforest and was lucky enough to spot wild orangutans on my trek into the jungle. This experience is priceless when it comes to reaching out to supporters and engaging them in our work."
Poli, SOS Bali Manager
Poli received his degree in Political Science from Brigham Young University -
Hawaii, USA. Prior to living and studying in the States, he was involved in
community development and clean water projects in various rural
areas on West and Central Java. Poli says:
Ing-Marie Persson and Ann Eklund, SOS Sweden
Ing-Marie has worked with the great apes at Furuvikparken
Zoo in Sweden for 30 years, even being fully accepted as a member of the zoo's
chimpanzee group! She is the chairman of the Sweden Chimpanzee Trust and travels
to Africa every year to work with several organisations that are fighting for
the survival of the chimpanzee in the wild.
"Since we also have Sumatran orangutans in our collection and their situation in the wild is even more critical than the chimpanzee's I have long felt that I would like to devote more of my work to them. Our main goals are education, conservation and research. We will put even more effort into spreading information about the threat the Sumatran orangutans are facing, both to our zoo visitors but also out throughout the country. It is very stimulating to support the fantastic work that SOS is doing. It would be truly awful if we would have to tell our children and grandchildren that Sumatran Orangutans can only be seen in zoos because we did not do anything whilst there was still time to save them in the wild!"
Ing-Marie shares the role of managing SOS Sweden with Ann
Eklund. After a 5 month journey that included visits to several
national parks in Asia in 2004-2005, Ann decided to try to improve the
situation for the world's threatened animals and ecosystems. Now in her final
year of a BSc (Hons) Conservation Biology (Animal Behaviour), Ann also works as
an animal carer at Furuvikparken Zoo.
"One thing I will never forget is the first time I met the Sumatran orangutans living at Furuvik. Just one millisecond of eye contact and I was hooked. The Sumatran orangutans are amazing creatures, so powerful yet so human. It is a great honour to become a member of the SOS team and I believe that we can help in achieving great deeds both by educating and communicating the threat to the public (including the younger generation and western consumers) and by fundraising to financially support in-situ conservation projects."
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."
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.