Staff by program

Dr. Justina Ray has been President and Senior Scientist of Wildlife Conservation Society Canada since its incorporation in 2004. In addition to overseeing the operations of WCS Canada, Justina is involved in research and policy activities associated with land use planning and large mammal conservation in northern landscapes. Having worked for years in African and Asian tropical forests, North America has been her predominant geographic focus over the past two decades. Justina has been appointed to numerous government advisory panels related to policy development for species at risk and land use planning in Ontario and Canada. She was the co-chair of the Terrestrial Mammals Subcommittee of the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) from 2009-2017 and is currently a member of the IUCN Taskforce on Biodiversity and Protected Areas. She has been editor or author of 3 books and numerous peer-reviewed articles, and is Adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto (Faculty of Forestry) and Trent University (Biology Department) and Research Associate at the Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Biology at the Royal Ontario Museum.

As the Director of Philanthropy, Biz leads fundraising and development for WCS Canada. Biz joined WCS Canada in December 2007. Prior to arriving at WCS Canada in 2007, she worked at Nature Conservancy Canada (NCC) as Director of US Programmes and at WWF Canada focusing on several conservation portfolios: Eastern Arctic marine mammals, Canadian Prairie wildlife, WWF Canadian endangered species and the Latin American Programme focussing on Central America, Brazil, Guyana and Cuba. Biz has a BA from Queen’s University at Kingston and a Masters of Environmental Studies (Biological Conservation) from York University, Toronto.

While WCS Canada’s scientists focus on delivering conservation outcomes Gillian is responsible for ensuring WCS Canada is operating effectively, efficiently and sustainably, from financial management to human resources to regulatory compliance. Gillian comes to this role with a strong background in conservation with WCS. Since joining WCS in 2000, Gillian has led and collaborated on a diversity of projects, including; mapping the global Human Footprint, and rescaling this methodology to the Northern Appalachian Ecoregion, developing web-based conservation mapping tools, estimating rates of deforestation in Sumatra, mapping mandrill habitat use in Gabon, and the identification of wolverine range and caribou wintering grounds in Ontario. Gillian has a Masters degree in Geology and Mineral Exploration with extensive field experience ranging from the Highlands of Scotland and the mines of central Queensland, Australia, to the Atacama Desert of Northern Chile and a variety of gold exploration projects in Ghana, Mali and Eritrea. In addition, Gillian holds a Certificate in Conservation Biology from Columbia University, New York, an Advanced Diploma in GIS from the College of Geographic Sciences (COGS) in Nova Scotia, and a certificate in Human Resource Management from the Social Economy Centre of the University of Toronto.

Marilyn Katsabas grew up in Toronto, Ontario and came to WCS Canada on a part-time basis in the fall of 2007. Marilyn has 20+ years administrative and bookkeeping experience previously working in both large corporate and small business environments. Marilyn has contributed to various community volunteer programs in the Toronto area.

As Fundraising Associate, Priscila supports WCS Canada’s fundraising team to maintain and improve donor stewardship. Priscila has over 10 years of experience in fundraising, grant management and project coordination, most of them working in conservation organizations in Brazil and in Canada. She holds a bachelor's degree in Social Communication and postgraduate degrees in Business Administration and in Sustainability Management, where she dedicated her research project to the theme of payment for environmental services and biodiversity conservation. Before joining WCS Canada as Fundraising Associate, Priscila worked in a number of organizations, including the University of Calgary's Faculty of Science, the Nature Conservancy of Canada, BirdLife/SAVE Brasil and Siemens Brasil.

Tina supports the WCS Canada Toronto office throughout the full scope of its Human Resource and Finance functions inclusive of recruitment, payroll, policy development/amendments, employee relations and all relating initiatives. Tina is also a part of the operations team, providing support to execute upcoming organizational goals and strategies. After graduating from York University with her Bachelor of Health Sciences, Tina has worked in an array of Administrative positions in both the corporate in non-profit sectors over the past 8 years; her roles have focused on providing support and development direction for Human Resource and Operational initiatives.

As an independent consultant, Brad Cundiff provides WCS Canada with strategic and technical communications support. Brad has extensive experience working with environmental organizations to communicate the need for better care of our planet, including leading the communication efforts for Ontario’s ground-breaking coal phase-out campaign. With a background in journalism, Brad has contributed to many Canadian periodicals, authored two books on exploring natural areas in Southern Ontario and has contributed to books on the Great Lakes and the Oak Ridges Moraine.

Rimi Chawngte serves as Human Resources Generalist at WCS Canada. Rimi is currently a student of HR at York University. Prior to this she has three years of HR experience in Recruitment, Business Partnering and Talent Management in Telecom and Internet Technology sectors in India, and also holds an MBA degree in HR.

As WCS Canada’s Social Media Coordinator, Rachel creates and shares compelling, scientifically-sound content to showcase WCS Canada’s research and conservation efforts. Rachel completed her BSc in Wildlife Biology & Conservation - minor in French Studies at the University of Guelph. Prior to joining WCS Canada she provided research support for multiple projects, with a recent focus on migratory birds, taking her to several Canadian provinces and the subtropical megacity of New Delhi, India. She is interested in physiological ecology and communication addressing climate change and the biodiversity crisis.
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