Natural Resources Staff Directory

FONSECA, Gustavo Team Leader Natural Resources gfonseca1@thegef.org	Gustavo has joined the GEF as Team Leader of the Natural Resources Management Team. Prior to joining the GEF, Gustavo was the Executive Vice President and Chief Conservation and Science Officer of Conservation International, where he managed 200 staff in headquarters and nearly 500 in field programs. He also held an appointment as Professor of Ecology and Zoology at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Gustavo holds a Bachelors degree from the University of Brasilia, a Masters in Latin American Studies from the University of Florida, and a Ph.D. in Wildlife and Range Sciences from the same university. He has authored over 140 scientific publications and dozens of popular articles, and has served on the board of several organizations. Suggested reading: “No Forest Left Behind”.
BAKARR, Mohamed Sr. Environmental Specialist mbakarr@thegef.org +1 202-458-8890	Mohamed has joined the GEF as Senior Environmental Specialist with a primary focus on Land Degradation and Sub-Sahara Africa. He has nearly two decades experience working on various aspects of integrated natural resource management including agroforestry land use, biodiversity conservation, and ecological restoration in the tropics. Although focused mainly on sub-Sahara Africa, his geographical experience extends across parts of Southeast Asia and Latin America. Prior to joining the GEF, he worked for seven years in several capacities at Conservation International, including most recently as Executive Director of the Center for Applied Biodiversity Science; and four years at the World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF) in Nairobi, Kenya as Director of Strategic Initiatives (Assistant Director General). Mohamed holds a Bachelor’s degree from Njala University in Sierra Leone, and a Masters and PhD in Tropical Ecology from the University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida.
CAVELIER, Jaime Program Manager/ Sr. Biodiversity Specialist jcavelier@thegef.org	Jaime is a Senior Biodiversity Specialist in the Natural Resources Management team. Before joining the GEF, Jaime worked as the Senior Program Manager in the Andes & Amazon Initiative at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. Prior to this, he worked as Ecoregional Coordinator for the Southwest Amazon program at the World Wildlife Fund. Jaime has dedicated 10 years of his professional career as a Professor and researcher at the University of the Andes in Bogota, where he had received his Biology degree. He carried out research in topics ranging from the ecology and conservation of single species to studies on the structure and functioning of tropical ecosystems. Jaime holds a Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.
CHERRIE, Kathy Program Assistant kcherrie@thegef.org
DENIS, Kettly Program Assistant kdenis@thegef.org	Kettly, a Haitian national, joined the Natural Resources Team as a Program Assistant. She supports the Middle East and North Africa, Eastern and Central Europe, South and East Asia regions. Kettly has more than 20 years of experience in providing administrative, managerial and operations support to a diverse range of sectors and teams. Before joining GEF, Kettly has been working at the World Bank and IFC as a contractor for the last 2 years providing support to various units including EXTIA, EXT Front Office, EXT Global Issues Seminars, HRSTS, MENA, and CAFDR. Previously Kettly worked for the USAID in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in the Private Enterprise Unit and the Comptroller's office as a Secretary, Executive Assistant, Payroll Coordinator, Voucher Examiner, and Senior Voucher Examiner. Prior to relocating to Virginia, Kettly worked in Florida for the Child Abuse Investigations Unit of the Department of Children and Families (DCF), and the School District of Palm Beach County where she provided administrative, accounting, and translation services. Kettly speaks fluent French, Creole, and conversant Spanish.
DUDA, Alfred Sr. Advisor International Waters aduda@thegef.org	Alfred joined the World Bank Group in 1992. He was part of the internal Bank team that coordinated development and Board approval of the 1994 Water Resources Management Policy that guides the Bank’s work in the field of water resources; he also worked in support of field operations in the early 1990s. For the last thirteen years, Al has been posted at the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Secretariat in a number of management positions and currently serves as Senior Advisor for International Waters, responsible for GEF International Waters Focal Area globally, as well as Regional Manager, Natural Resources, responsible in the Natural Resources Team for Biodiversity, Land Degradation, and International Waters projects for the Indo-Malay-Pacific Region. Following completion of his doctoral work at Duke University in hydrology, Al worked in a supervisory capacity at a water quality regulatory agency in the United States and then at the corporate environment staff of the Tennessee Valley Authority. In 1987, he was named by the U. S. Department of State as Director and Chief of Diplomatic Mission of the Great Lakes Office of the International Joint Commission (Canada and U.S.). Housed within the U.S. Department of State and located in Canada, the bi-national office supports US and Canadian operations under the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 with responsibilities to resolve current and avoid future water disputes along the border. Al’s work has appeared in some 7 dozen papers in technical journals and other publications.
GAUL, Dirk Sustainable Forest Management Jr. Professional Officer dgaul@thegef.org	Dirk joined the Natural Resources team of the GEF as a Junior Professional Officer. A German national, Dirk will mainly be involved in the development of a strategy on Sustainable Forest Management for the next replenishment period. In addition, he will provide support to the monitoring of the Sustainable Forest Management program portfolio. Dirk holds a Bachelors degree in International Forest Ecosystem Management from Eberswalde University in Germany, a Masters degree in Ecology from Umea University in Sweden and a Ph.D. in Biodiversity and Ecology from Goettingen University in Germany.
GLINEUR, Nicole Program Manager/ Sr. Biodiversity Specialist nglineur@thegef.org
KAYANI, Shakil Ahmad Team Assistant skayani@thegef.org	Shakil Kayani joined the GEF as Team Assistant in 2005. He has extensive experience working with projects. Shakil assists the Natural Resources team by processing project documents. Previously, Shakil worked for the World Bank Middle East and North Africa and South Asia Department as an Office Assistant. Furthermore, he worked for Headquarters of the Civil Arm Forces of Pakistan as a Support Staff.
PHAN, Nhu Quynh Program Assistant nphan@worldbank.org	Nhu Quynh, a vietnamese national joined the Natural Resources Team as a Program Assistant. She will be supporting the Africa, MENA, Europe and South-East Asia cluster. Nhu has more than 13 years of experience in providing administrative, managerial and operations support to a diverse range of sectors and teams. Before joining GEF, she was working at the World Bank Hanoi Office, for the last 6 years. Over the course of these years, she provided ACS support to various units, including Front Office, Administration, Resource Management, Knowledge Management, Procurement, Rural Development, and the Portfolio & Operations Teams.Earlier this year she also completed a 2-month development assignment at Headquarters where she worked with the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management (PREM) and Human Development (HD) teams. Before joining the Bank, Nhu worked for about 7 years in the private sector with Mitsui Corporation of Japan, Representative Office in Hanoi, in the capacity of Executive Assistant. Nhu holds two Bachelors degrees - one in Economics from the Hanoi National Economics University, and another in Arts (English and Russian) from the Hanoi University for Foreign Languages. She has lived and worked mostly in Vietnam but has traveled to various countries.
SEVERIN, Christian Program Manager/ Environmental Specialist cseverin@thegef.org	Christian is an Environmental Specialist working for the International Waters focal area under the Natural Resources Management Team. Before joining the GEF, Chris worked as a Project Manager in a smaller private sector company promoting mobile units for drinking water production for emergency areas. Prior to this he has also been engaged in facilitation of Nordic/Baltic cooperation on MSc and PhD level within Biosystems Engineering, as well as functioning as an Environmental Consultant working with Constructed wetlands and alternative measures to target wastewater as well as indoor air pollution. Chris holds a BSc and MSc in Land use in Developing Countries from the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Denmark, while also having received a Diploma from the Danish University Consortium for Environment and Development - Sustainable Land Use and Natural Resource Management (DUCED-SLUSE).
SINNASSAMY, Jean-Marc Program Manager/ Sr. Biodiversity Specialist jsinnassamy@thegef.org	Jean-Marc Sinnassamy has joined the GEF as Senior Biodiversity Expert in the Natural Resources Team. He work will reinforce GEF efforts in the Africa region with a focus on Land Degradation and Biodiversity issues in West and Central Africa. Previously, Jean-Marc spent 4 years as Technical Advisor to the Minister in charge of the Environment in Benin, West Africa. In this role he provided institutional support in spatial planning at national level and facilitating a costal lagoon sustainable management project with local communities and partners. Jean-Marc also worked 8 years for a Private Foundation where he led projects in a dozen of countries with a particular interest on wetlands conservation and integrated coastal area management. Jean-Marc holds a post graduate degree in environmental management form the University of Montpellier, France.
WATANABE, Yoko Program Manager/ Sr. Biodiversity Specialist ywatanabe@thegef.org	Yoko is a Senior Biodiversity Specialist at the Natural Resources Team of the GEF Secretariat. Yoko has over 15 years of professional experiences working on biodiversity and natural resources management at both field and headquarter levels. Prior to joining the GEF, she worked at the WWF (World Wildlife Fund for Nature) at Mongolia and United States Offices. At WWF-US, she was a Senior Advisor for the Multilateral and Bilateral Agency Relations, including policy and project coordination with the GEF. At the WWF Mongolia Office, she was a Head of Conservation Programme responsible for all conservation projects and programs in Mongolia. Prior to that, Yoko worked at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) at both Nepal and Mongolia country offices as an Environmental Programme Officer, managing GEF-funded and other biodiversity projects at the field level. She also worked at the Japan International Corporation (JICA) and a few environment NGOs in Japan and US. Yoko is a Japanese citizen and holds a master's degree in international development with a major in Environment and Natural Resources Management from the American University in Washington DC. She also received her bachelor's degree in international politics from the Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo, where she focused her studies on development economics and environmental management.
ZAVADSKY, Ivan Program Manager/ Sr. Water Resources Management Specialist izavadsky@thegef.org	Ivan works as Senior Water Resources Management Specialist with GEF Secretariat, primarily focused on transboundary freshwater issues. Before joining GEF he worked as Regional Programme Director of UNDP/GEF Danube/Black Sea Regional Programme. Prior to that, he worked as Project Manager of the UNDP/GEF Danube Regional Project assisting Danube countries in implementation of the Danube River Protection Convention, emphasising inter-state cooperation and pollution reduction. He also served as Director General at the Ministry of Environment of Slovakia responsible for policy and regulation. In 1999-2001 he led the negotiations of the accession of the Slovakia to European Union for the entire sector environment. During his more the 15 years long government service career he represented Czechoslovak and Slovak governments to number of international bodies or organisations, such as International Commission on the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR), Environmental Policy Committee OECD, Committee on Environmental Policy UN ECE, etc. Ivan holds degrees in water management and in economics of water management from Slovak Technical University in Bratislava.
ZIMSKY, Mark Program Manager/ Sr. Biodiversity Specialist mzimsky@thegef.org	Over the last 25 years, Mark has gathered worldwide experience developing national biodiversity strategies, designing biodiversity conservation projects for national, regional and global-level execution, and implementing sustainable agriculture, natural resources management, and conservation projects at the national and community level. He has practical experience in more than 30 countries, with field experience in Albania, Kenya and Mexico where he implemented community-level projects promoting sustainable natural resources management. He has worked for a wide variety of institutions including UNDP, UNEP, the US Peace Corps, and NGOs such as Ecology Action of the Mid-peninsula, and ACDI-VOCA. Prior to coming to the GEF in 2004, Mark served as the Senior Programme Officer for Biodiversity at UNEP/GEF. At the GEF Mark has worked on the biodiversity team, serving as Acting Team Leader for the focal area, before assuming his current responsibilites as Biodiversity Focal Area Coordinator, Regional Program Manager, Natural Resources, Latin America and the Caribbean. Mark received a Master of Forest Science Degree from the Yale University, School of Forestry and Environmental Studies in 1991. He was awarded a 2-year fellowship from the Echoing Green Foundation of New York in 1991 to support the implementation of a tree-planting and agroforestry project in Mexico. He also earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Conservation and Resource Studies from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1989. An avid climber and trekker, Mark hopes to summit all of Colorado's "Fourteeners" before his legs give out.