Our Board of Trustees

D. Gregory Edwards - B. Comm, MBA, FRSA

Chairman

Greg has had since the age of two an ongoing love affair with his original stuffed giraffe called 'Girry'. As one of the founders of the GCF, Greg has high hopes that it will become a beacon of giraffe research and conservation by using new and innovative ways to tackle modern day issues. After completing his MBA in international management, Greg has been working in the foreign exchange markets for over 14 years, advising various clients types on managing their foreign exchange exposure and more recently providing e-commerce solutions to clients. He has worked overseas in Toronto, and is now based in London, England. Greg is also a Board Member and Treasurer of Islington-based Union Chapel Project. The Project manages one of London's premier music venues, investing profits into the restoration of a listed Church and delivering Arts and Homelessness Programmes. Greg is also a Freeman of the City of London and Member of the Guild of Freeman, as well as a Fellow of the RSA - Royal Society of the encouragement of the Arts, Manufactures and Commerce. Greg brings a world of organisational and financial talent to bear on the GCF.

Rebecca Muddeman 

Rebecca has always had a passion for wildlife and conservation since growing up on a remote farm in Cornwall. Rebecca’s career has essentially been in the marketing and sales field primarily helping to build up one of the most successful independent IT training companies in the UK. Rebecca has a passion for African travel and got involved with the Desert Elephant & Giraffe Trust in Namibia as an Earthwatch volunteer where she met Dr Julian Fennessy and Andy Tutchings and raised vital funds for satellite collars. Rebecca has also helped Africat gain UK charity status, she has helped the Bwindi Community Heathcare Centre with building a website (after a trip to see Gorillas in Uganda) and supports ongoing work with the Environmental Investigation Agency into anti-poaching and illegal ivory trading. Since living in Devon Rebecca has trained as a marine mammal medic with the British Divers Marine Life Rescue and is about to start up a junior group with the Devon Wildlife Trust. Rebecca is delighted to be involved in the early stages of the Giraffe Conservation Foundation and feels that the organisation can really make a difference with vital work to support Giraffe Conservation across Africa.

Julian Fennessy - PhD

Julian is currently the Executive Director of the Kenya Land Conservation Trust, a Kenyan NGO targeting securing land for wildlife and their habitat outside of protected areas. Julian has over ten years of experience in species and habitat ecology and conservation, and more specifically land management both throughout Africa and Australia. However, his experience in the field of giraffe conservation and research is something few others can boast, from individual field projects, suprivision of students, population and country-wide assessments, to expert advisor on (sub)species conservation strategies. Julian is one of the foremost experts on giraffe in the world, is the current Chair (and founding member) of the International Giraffe Working Goup affiliated with IUCN Species Survival Commission, and provides a solid base from which GCF can grow.

Mary Rice - MA, FRSA

Mary is currently the Executive Director of the Environmental Investigation Agency, a London and Washington based non-governmental organisation that investigates and exposes environmental crime and illegal trade in natural resources. Mary has been working in the conservation sector since the mid-nineties and first bumped into Julian when she was trundling around North West Namibia taking photos and conducting research for 'Heat, Dust and Dreams', a book which explores the people and environment of one of Africa's last great wildernesses, and home, also, to the desert giraffe. Who could fail to be enchanted by these exotic and engaging creatures? Mary has worked extensively in southern and eastern Africa on a broad range of issues and brings a wealth of campaigning, communications and fundraising experience into the mix. Mary is also a Fellow of the RSA and has had a lifelong passion and interest in wildlife since an elephant slapped her in the face when she was a child!

Andy Tutchings - FRGS

Andy brings a raft of practical experience to GCF. A member of the Explorers Club of New York, Andy has lead or been a member of expeditions from inside the Arctic Circle to well below the Equator. Involved for a number of years in game capture and research expeditions across Africa, he first met Julian and Rebecca in 2002 in the desert of North West Namibia when part of the game capture team on Julian's pioneering project to satellite collar giraffes to monitor and track their range and movement patterns (to this day he still maintains catching giraffes is some of the best fun you can have with your clothes on!). Lifelong wildlife enthusiast and supporter of numerous conservation initiatives around the world, Andy lives and works in Germany and, among other things, is GCF's mainland Europe arm.