FORMER COUNTRY MANAGER – LAO PDR

With over two decades of experience developing innovative ecotourism programs in South-East Asia, my main area of expertise is in using tourism to create direct linkages with conservation.

I first started working in Asia in protected area management and tourism development as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Langtang National Park, Nepal from ’97-’99, after graduating from UC Berkeley in Political Economy of Natural Resources. I began working in South-East Asia in Laos in 2000 on the country’s first community-based ecotourism project, the UNESCO Nam Ha Ecotourism Project, which won the Equator Prize in 2006. I also helped pioneer one of the first tourism-related examples of a payment for ecosystem services incentive with WCS, the Nam Nern Night Safari in Nam Et-Phou Louey, which won the World Responsible Tourism Award for Best Responsible Wildlife Experience in 2013.

My broad experience throughout the region and globally includes work with organisations such as the International Crane Foundation in Cambodia; WWF in Laos; RSPB in Sierra Leone; and the Living Irrawaddy Dolphin Project in Myanmar.

With my extensive experience and proven results in ecotourism program design, especially in relation to conservation, in addition to my abilities in capacity building and community organization, marketing and product development, and project management mean I can really add value to the Asian Arks portfolio.