Cercopan

After fourteen great months, our Office and Finance Manager Kristine Krynitzki has decided to leave CERCOPAN and set off for pastures new. Although extremely sad to see Kris go, we wish her every luck as she begins the next chapter of her career, with plans of returning to university to begin studying environmental law in her home country, Canada.

The task of finding a replacement for such a valued member of staff has been a long and difficult process; however we are pleased to announce the appointment of our brand new Office and Finance manager, Sam Trull.

Sam, aged 28, has already had a long and established career within the field of primate conservation. With over twelve years of experience under her belt and an overwhelming passion for the cause, Sam was the perfect candidate for the job. Beginning work aged 16 at The Duke Lemur Centre in North Carolina, she progressed to the post of Primate Technician and Enrichment Co-ordinator while finishing her undergraduate study of Zoology and Anthropology in her home state. Wishing to advance from this point, more specifically as a primatologist, Sam began a post grad study in Primate Conservation at Oxford Brookes the following year.

Academic accomplishments aside, Sam has also participated in field research prior to arriving at CERCOPAN. Her first experience was in the Bahamas working on a team studying the Bahama parrot during March 2007. Sam then went on to carry out a pilot study surveying for aye-ayes in Betampona Reserve in Madagascar just 6 months later in the fall of 2007.

According to Sam, working for CERCOPAN is the next step in her career as a primate conservationist and she is delighted to have been given the opportunity,

“I’m thrilled to be working with an in-situ conservation project like CERCOPAN. I think the combination of primate rehabilitation, community education, research and forest preservation is a great multi-faceted approach to addressing conservation issues in Nigeria.”

Sam is due to stay at CERCOPAN for a year and, just three weeks into her stay, is already well on the way to being a fully trained CERCOPAN Office and Finance Manager. We wish both Kris and Sam lots of luck for the future.