Operation Wallacea
Wallace House
Old Bolingbroke
Lincolnshire
PE23 4EX
England

Tel: +44 1790 763194
Fax: +44 1790 763825

Email: info@opwall.com

Opwall HQ - Alex Tozer

Dr. Tim Coles founded Operation Wallacea in 1995, and the Operation Wallacea Trust (Charity no. 1078362) in 1998.  In doing so he designed and ran a series of projects that have not only resulted in the levering of over $2 million of funding for tropical conservation practices, but have also established protected areas and national parks, discovered over 30 new vertebrate species to science (plus many more invertebrate species), and have achieved numerous publications in peer-reviewed journals.

Tim has a PhD in fisheries management and over 13 years of experience in biological assessment in the UK water industry and National Rivers Authority.  In 1990 he established both IEMA (the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment) and EARA (the Environmental Auditors Registration Association). IEMA now has over 12,500 individual and corporate members based in 87 countries, and is a leading international membership-based organisation dedicated to the promotion of sustainable development, and to the professional development of individuals employed in the environmental sector.  EARA has now evolved into the IEMA Environmental Auditors Register, which has over 1,650 auditors listed in over 50 countries worldwide.

Tim and Operation Wallacea have received numerous awards for their work in the environment sector, including an RSA Better Environment for Industry Award, an EC Environment Award, the Best New Tourism Project Award from the Guild of British Travel Writers, and the British Airways Tourism for Tomorrow Award for Best Project in a National Park.

Pippa started working with Operation Wallacea back in 1998 when we only operated in Indonesia. Now many years on, having travelled to Indonesia, South Africa, Cuba and Honduras, she heads up our sales and marketing teams.  Having overseen the growth of Operation Wallacea from a company taking 15 volunteers on a trip to Indonesia to an organisation that now takes over 1500 individuals abroad every year, Pippa was recently appointed Director of Sales and Marketing and is responsible for all school and volunteer recruitment and management.  Her favourite word is gorgeous and when on expedition she misses her Guinea Pigs Tabitha, Esmerelda and Arnold.

Alex first started working with Operation Wallacea in the summer of 2004, when he volunteered to work in a baking hot office in a dusty Honduran town for 3 months in the name of conservation.  He has been addicted to Opwall ever-since, and is now involved in setting up and running the projects at each site.  He has an MSc (distinction) in Psychology from Nottingham University, has professional qualifications in Occupational Testing and speaks bad South American Spanish with heavy english overtones.

Kathy first became involved with Operation Wallacea in 2001 when she joined the Indonesian expedition as a general volunteer after completing her degree in Biology and Psychology at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU). She was immediately hooked on jungle living and returned to Indonesia with Opwall the next year to collect data for her MSc project on the Buton macaque. Following her MSc (distinction) in Evolutionary Psychology at the University of Liverpool, Kathy ran away to Mexico to conduct her PhD on the social relationships of wild spider monkeys. Upon completion of her PhD also at the University of Liverpool, Kathy returned to LJMU as a lecturer in Animal Behaviour. 

A few months later, Kathy found herself listening to the Opwall presentation at LJMU in the same lecture theatre as in 2001 volunteering to run a howler monkey project at the Opwall field site in Honduras. Less than a year later, Kathy joined the Opwall team on a full time basis to oversee the conservation management and primatology projects in Honduras and to coordinate student research projects across all Opwall field sites. Having lived in the jungle for too long to be accepted back into civilized society, Kathy continues to reside with her monkeys in Mexico

Caroline studied Zoology at the University of Aberystwyth graduating with Honours in 2007, and whilst at University spent a summer in Indonesia on an Opwall expedition, quickly catching the expedition bug.  After a period of travelling she joined the Opwall staff team out in Honduras as a Habitat Surveyor, and was asked to join the team full time in the UK office at the end of the 2007 season.  Caroline led the habitat team in Honduras during the 2008 and 2009 seasons, in addition to organising and running the forest acclimatisation course.  Caroline's most valued piece of expedition equipment is a jar of Nutella, since it can turn the most bland of jungle food into a feast! 

Alison joined the operations team of Operation Wallacea in 2006. She had a very sweaty trip to Honduras in 2007, where she spent her time between the Cofradia office, Base Camp and Santa Tomas. In 2008 Alison was the main Operation Wallacea contact in South Africa. Before joining the team she dreamed of being a primary school teacher and completed her degree at Bishop Grosseteste College in Lincoln. This dream went the way of those she had of being a farm secretary (NCFS at Riseholme College, Lincoln) and also a top notch secretary (RSA Group Certificate at West Anglia College). Her proudest achievement is her three children Charlotte, Jack and Harry.

After completing her A-Levels Emily was determined to find a career doing something she was passionate about - namely the environment.  She travelled to Australia where she worked as a park ranger for a year, disseminating information to tourists about the local wildlife.  Following a slight misinterpretation of the literature she was given as part of her induction she is solely responsible for the myth, still circulating Melbourne, that Wallabies can only give birth on Christmas day.  A PADI Instructor, Emily has worked on marine wildlife projects in the Philippines, Honduras, and Indonesia, and is currently helping to recruit volunteers from UK schools and Universities.

Emily studied Zoology at the University of Nottingham before spending a year travelling in South East Asia.  She has worked on wildlife projects in Greece, Tenerife and Australia, and has supervised Opwall projects in Indonesia (where she supervised habitat survey groups in 2007) and in Cuba (where she ran the expedition in 2008). Emily's most valued piece of expedition equipment is her camera, and her favourite camp fire trick is to blow bubbles with her eyes!

Jenna's background is a little different to most Opwall employees - before joining the team in the UK office, Jenna spent 4 years working at Butlins as an entertainer (something that may not seem that surprising if you attend one of her meetings!).  Looking for a new direction, Jenna joined the fundraising team in 2006 and has since helped numerous volunteers raise funds towards their expeditions.

James is the senior marine scientist for Honduras, responsible for coordinating and supervising research on Utila, Cayos Cochinos and the social science team on the north coast of the mainland. He finished his Phd in marine ecosystem functioning and coastal erosion at the University of St Andrews in 2008 and now works full time for Opwall lecturing in the USA and UK when not in Honduras. James is a very keen diver, with more than 10 years of research diving and holds a HSE commercial diving qualification specialising in scientific diving practices. His research interests focus upon assessing human impacts on ecosystems and the resulting effect on their functioning, including coral reefs, seagrass beds and mangroves. This research is directed towards supplying data and results that can be used to promote conservation of marine environments while allowing their use through ecotourism and sustainable fisheries.

Pippa Mansell has been involved with Op Wall ever since she undertook her dissertation at the Indonesian marine site in 2004. After graduating from Plymouth with a 1st Class Honours degree in Marine Biology and Oceanography in 2005 she wandered round the world for 4 years working on a number of marine and conservation projects in various countries whilst exploring and generally enjoying herself the rest of the time. Her love of Indonesia took her back to Hoga every year as a member of staff and she has been site manager there since 2007. Pippa is also a director of the local Indonesian NGO, Lembaga Alam Mitra Wakatobi.

2009 brought Pippa back to the UK where for 6 months a year she is based at The University of Essex working as a senior research officer for Dr Dave Smith, head of marine research for Op Wall. Pippa continues coordinating the Indonesian marine site during this time whilst also undertaking her own work as a NERC Knowledge Exchange Fellow; the rest of the year finds her back in her beloved Indonesia.

A former Royal Marine SteveO has organised and run expeditions to the Tropics for the last 35 years. He has worked on expeditions with Operation Raleigh, Swale Treks, Trekforce, World Challenge as well as many Forces expeditions and special TV and film based expeditions. Steve is based in Jakarta and runs an Expedition Advisory Service for expedition groups going to Indonesia. He has worked with Op Wall since 1996 and has been part of the team that has helped the organisation grow from taking just a small number of volunteers to one destination in Indonesia to the current levels of research activity at 25 sites in 7 countries. SteveO is an invaluable source of advice on expedition management and runs the UK emergency team when the research teams are in the field over the summer.

One of Operation Wallacea's most recent additions, Gwen studied accountancy in Uxbridge before undertaking a charity trek across Cuba in 2006.  She raised the money for her trip by cycling between all of the offices of her then-employer in 3 counties, covering 200 miles in just 4 days, and motivating half the workforce of her accountancy firm to do the same!

After leaving an Archaeology degree Amy decided to use her mathematical ability and is part way through her AAT at Lincoln college. She joined the company in the Autumn of 2009, excited by the prospect of combining her mathematical qualifications with her passion for travel and hopes to add to the places she has already visited, including Cyprus, Greece and America. Highlights so far being behind the scenes at an Archaeological dig in Turkey!

Alastair started working for OPWALL in the Cloud forests of Honduras as part of the Habitat Survey Team before returning to the UK office to work in Schools recruitment. A graduate of Geography and Environmental Management from Northumbria University, he is a dab hand at a wide range of survey techniques from UK Phase One Habitat Surveys and aerial Elephant surveys in the field to estimating population dynamics/behaviour in the lab with a toy shark. 

As the OPWALL CoPE coordinator he is helping UK 6th Form students to develop the key skills that they need for employment and future study at university.

Charlotte graduated from The University of Birmingham in 2007 with a BSc in Zoology of which her dissertation research was collected during the 2006 Honduras expedition. After a successful first season Charlotte returned to assist and finally in 2008 run the small mammal team. Determined to pursue a career in conservation she then studied a Master's in Applied Ecology and Conservation at The University of East Anglia. Following work for other organisations in Ecuador and Vietnam Charlotte has returned to Operation Wallacea to be part of the UK office team.

Helen graduated from the University of East Anglia in 2005 armed with a degree in Environmental Sciences. After graduating, she returned to UEA to top up her knowledge with a graduate diploma in Ecology. Whilst at UEA, she was presented with the chance to go to Egypt with Opwall in 2009. She went, and has been mildly obsessed with Egypt ever since. She joined Opwall in January 2010 as part of the school sales team. In her free time Helen is attempting to learn Arabic.

Frazer Higgins graduated from the University of Bath in 2009 with a BSc in Biology having spent time working in Honduras and also Trinidad where he was on placement for a year. He subsequently took part in two expeditions in Madagascar, to the Mahamavo dry forests and the Mangoky basin. He is particularly interested in GIS and is currently working as a research analyst.

Her strong interest and commitment to environmental conservation lead her to join the Opwall team in October 2009. She is keen on continuing her studies in environmental economics while still being involved in different Opwall projects.