MEET THE STAFF

Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka

CTPH Founder and CEO
In the legacy of the late Dian Fossey, Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka has become one of the leading conservationists and scientists working to save the critically endangered mountain gorillas of East Africa.

Under siege by poachers, loss of habitat and warfare, “Dr. Gladys” has discovered another serious threat to these majestic creatures—transmission of human diseases to gorillas called “zoonotic transmission”—afflictions ranging from tuberculosis to scabies. Her mission: to improve African public health to save the gorillas from human-borne illnesses. Gorillas and humans have a 98 percent genetic resemblance, making transmission of diseases between the species highly probable.

As Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH), a grassroots, nonprofit organization based in Uganda with at US Office at Colgate University School of Environmental Studies, Dr. Gladys promotes conservation and public health by improving primary health care to both people and animals in and around protected areas in Africa with a vision to control transmission of disease where people, wildlife and livestock meet.

The 39-year-old doctor, trained at the University of London’s Royal Veterinary College, has won accolades from Africa to the U.S. In 2008, she was honored with the San Diego Zoo’s “Conservation in Action Award” and was among eight women given an award for outstanding contribution towards tourism development and women empowerment in 2007. She was the recipient of the prestigious Ashoka Fellowship in 2006.

After deciding to be a veterinarian at age 12, Dr. Gladys became a conservationist at 18. Studying for her career, she conducted research on intestinal parasites in wild chimpanzees and parasites and tourist-habituated and non-tourist-habituated mountain gorillas. She found gorillas visited by tourists had a higher parasite rate than those not visited, implying that tourism can have a negative impact on mountain gorillas’ health.

Between 1996 and 2000, she set up the first Veterinary Unit in the Uganda Wildlife Authority, pioneering the first wildlife translocations in her country since the 1970s and developed the first community education campaigns on risks of humans and gorilla disease transmission among others.

An articulate, polished advocate, Dr. Gladys has been featured in documentaries on BBC 1, National Geographic, Animal Planet, MNet and Uganda Television.

Dr. Gladys is a powerful speaker about the interconnectedness of all species and the human links to our most endangered wildlife.

Lawrence Zikusoka

CTPH Founder and Director of ICT for Development
Lawrence Zikusoka is a CTPH Board Member and Wi-Fi Project Director for deployment of the first ever 802.11g telecentres with footprints in UNESCO World Heritage Site and Biosphere Reserve in Bwindi Impenetrable and Queen Elizabeth National Parks, enabling small enterprises, NGOs and eco-tourists to have local multimedia, broadband wireless and VoIP services in the Albertine Rift.

The pilot was funded by the World Bank, Uganda Communications Commission, WYSE Technology, and Uganda Telecom in 2004, and since then, UNIDO and Microsoft. The sustainable CTPH Telecentre model was nominated as a Finalist at the Stockholm Challenge Award, WSIS Best ICT Project in Africa, and featured on BBC’s “Go Digital” and CNN’s “Focus on the Internet.”

Lawrence has 10 years experience in international telecom, electronics and IT environments working in 8 countries namely, Kosovo, India, Congo, USA, France, Uganda, Madagascar and South Africa. Most recently, he was a special projects advisor on the Refugee Connectivity Pilot and program management consultant for Ericsson’s Market Unit sub-Saharan Africa in high-growth telecom markets.

Prior to co-founding CTPH, Mr. Zikusoka held various positions in strategic marketing, business development, turnkey GSM/3G network rollout, transmission and core network expansion, field operations and maintenance, regulatory and ICT policy development at Nortel’s Research Triangle Park, Simba Telecom, Zain, and the United Nations.

Mr. Zikusoka was awarded the 2006 Reuters Digital Vision Fellowship for technology social entrepreneurs at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. Lawrence holds a Masters degree in Telecommunications from the State University of New York Institute of Technology and is actively pursuing Project Management Professional (PMP) certification.

Lawrence is married to Dr. Gladys, the CTPH Founder and CEO and has two sons, Ndhego and Tendo.

CNN

STEVEN RUBANGA

CTPH Founder and Chief Veterinary Technician
Steven Rubanga holds a Diploma from East African Commercial School in Uganda, as well as veterinary certifications and specialized training from Central Veterinary Laboratory {VLA} Weybridge in UK and Instituto Zooprofilatico Sperimentale Teramo in Italy. Steven worked with Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries for over 20 years, where he helped set up several laboratory projects and conduct veterinary field surveys including, Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia (CBPP), Rinderpest and Foot and Mouth disease (FMD) in livestock.

More recently his wildlife experience includes working with Dr. Kalema-Zikusoka in sample collection and processing for Tuberculosis disease investigation in free ranging buffalo and cattle at the human/wildlife/livestock interface in Queen Elizabeth National Park (QENP) and people in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (BINP); and African Swine Fever disease surveys in warthogs and domestic pigs in and around Queen Elizabeth and Murchison Falls National Parks. Steven has been instrumental in setting up wildlife health monitoring activities for CTPH, including gorilla fecal sample analysis, training of HUGO team members and other wildlife health monitoring activities in Queen Elizabeth National Park. He has also provided support supervision with the Community Based Direct Observation of TB Treatments Short Course Therapy (CBDOTS) volunteers. As a thank you to the Population, Health & Environment community volunteers, CTPH provides livestock in order create an income generating livestock health and husbandry project which Steven runs in order to help sustain their volunteer efforts.

Hilary Kumanya

CTPH Wildlife Health Technician
Hilary has a Degree in Wild Animal Resource Management from Faculty of Veterinary Medicine/Makerere University, and taught at the faculty for two years. His primary role is the field based point of contact for wildlife health issues, which includes regular clinical observations of gorillas, gorilla identification and wildlife field sample collection, processing and analysis.

Alex Ngabirano

CTPH Population, Health and Environment Field Assistant
Alex Ngabirano is a native of the Bwindi community and has worked with CTPH since 2005. He is currently in charge of the field coordination of the PHE community volunteer networks in Bwindi – educating and strengthening community focused family planning and education campaigns on the links between conservation, disease, family planning, livelihoods and ecotourism.

David Matsiko

CTPH Community Telecentre Officer, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
Prior to working with CTPH David taught in the local schools in Bwindi. He is a graduate of the CTPH computer training course as part of the Makerere University Gender and Technology Outreach Programme where on completion he was enrolled as our first community telecentre intern. He is currently in charge of all IEC programs in Bwindi including setting up distance learning between schools in Uganda and USA and computer training.

Stella Mboneko

CTPH Community Telecentre Officer, Queen Elizabeth National Park
Stella Mboneko is a senior six graduate from Hamukungu Village, a largely pastoral community and one of the most marginalized around QENP, she is in charge of the QENP Telecentre operations, including supervising the Gorilla Kawa coffee shop, coordinating computer training and putting tourists and community members on the internet.

Sylvia Musoki

CTPH Community Telecentre Intern, Queen Elizabeth National Park
Sylvia Musoki is a senior four graduate from one of the most marginalized communities around QENP, she is in charge of the Gorilla Kawa coffee shop, serving coffee to tourists visiting the QENP Telecentre operations, of which proceeds go directly to the community projects around the park.

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Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka in the optics of her accomplishments and formal recognition: Whitley Gold Award for outstanding leadership in grassroots nature conservation, 2008 British Council Outstanding Young Alumni Award, 2008 San Diego Zoo Conservation in Action Award for her work in gorilla conservation.

In 2007, Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka received Recognition of Excellence for her outstanding contribution to the promotion of tourism and empowerment of women in Uganda on World Tourism Day and Seed Magazine named her one of their eight Revolutionary Minds in Science. In 1999, she was chosen as a Forum for African Women’s Educationalists “Model of Excellence,” promoting education of the girl-child in Uganda by establishing a role model mentorship program.

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