2001 Global Fellows

Jo Marie has always intended to pursue a career in wildlife research. After earning a  degree in Biology in 1994, she attended veterinary school at the University of the Philippines and joined the World Wildlife Fund in 1999.  Jo Marie hopes to improve her background in conservation and environmental management to support her role as a project team leader. 

Joanna is a biologist trained at the Universidad Ricardo Palma in Lima, Peru. She has been a research assistant at the Peruvian Center of Cetacean Research since 1990.  Joanna is also the co-founder and current president of the Association ProDelphinus (APD), a nonprofit organization for marine conservation.  As a coordinator for CEPED/APD, a marine environmental education program, she noticed the lack of knowledge regarding marine turtles and jump-started field work on the issue. She hopes to apply the knowledge she gained at the Marine Lab to present and future projects on sea turtle and marine mammal conservation in Peru and South America.

Tonny Bachtlar is from Indonesia and is currently a doctoral student in the Department of Environmental Engineering at the Institut Teknologl Bandung. He is a lecturer in the Department of Marine Schience and is Vice-Head of the Center for Coastal and Marine Tropical Studies at the Institute of Universitas Diponegoro; as well as the head of Region III National Coral Reef Monitoring. He hopes that the Integrated Marine Conservation program at the Marine Lab will give him the interdisciplinary problem solving tools required to resolve the environmental issues he deals with.

Pablo is from Buenos Aires, and has been involved in projects relating to the marine species of coastal Patagonia for over a decade. He holds a degree in biological sciences from Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia San Juan Bosco, and is currently a research fellow at Centro Nacional Patagonico. He hopes that his studies at the Marine Lab will contribute to his understanding of key topics in biodiversity conservation.

Lazar Bojan graduated from the University of Zagreb with a biology degree, and returned as a graduate student in ecology. He works as a research assistant and program coordinator for the Adriatic Marine Turtle Program at the Croatian Natural History Museum in Zagreb. He hopes that his research and his studies at the Marine Lab will help support the conservation of sea turtles in the eastern Adriatic Sea.

Melissa Morales grew up in Mexico and studied biology and biotechnology at Universidad de las Americas-Puebla Sta. Catarina Martir.  Melissa is particularly interested in the marine ecosystems of Mexico and hopes that her courses at the Marine Lab will give her the knowledge and tools to pursue a career in conservation biology.

David Olendo, a native of Kenya, earned a degree in Sales and Marketing Management in England. He is the Environmental Education Officer for Baobab Trust, a nonprofit organization based in Kenya which develops community-based environmental and wildlife conservation practices. He also holds the position of National Chairman for the Kenya Sea Turtle Conservation Committee (KESCOM). He hopes to use his training at the Duke Marine Lab to contribute toward the recovery of sea turtle populations in Keya.

Kifle Woldelassie recently left his home in Eritrea to pursue a masters degree in environmental studies at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International Studies, where is recognized as a Watson International Scholar of the Environment. Kifle already holds a masters in geology from Moscow State University.  In Eritrea, he was involved with the Red Sea Sea Water Farms project. His courses at the marine lab will have meaningful application to his work on mariculture and seawater agriculture.