Heim Myline Dode Houhounha
PhD Candidate, Regional Post-Graduate Training School on Integrated Management of Tropical Forests and Lands (ERAIFT) and University of Liège (ULiege)
Dode Houehounha has an engineering degree in forestry, a master’s degree in protected area management, and an MBA in conservation. With over 12 years of experience in conservation in Africa, he is currently working on his PhD under joint supervision at the Regional Post-Graduate Training School on Integrated Management of Tropical Forests and Lands (ERAIFT) and the University of Liege (ULiege). His research focuses on the governance of protected areas affected by armed conflict in Africa.
Crispin Ilunga-Mulala Mushagalusa
PhD Candidate, University of Liège
Crispin Ilunga-Mulala Mushagalusa is a PhD student in the Forest Is Life unit at Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, University of Liège, Belgium. He combines basic and applied research to better understand the performance of trees in plantations for sustainable forest management. He is currently modelling the growth of native tree species in plantations in African tropical forests, particularly in logging gaps, degraded areas and log yards. His research also focuses on carbon sequestration in plantations for climate change mitigation and adaptation. He also uses genetic aspects to understand tree growth. He works with local communities, logging companies and NGOs to translate the practical recommendations from research findings into concrete action.
Damase Khasa
Professor, University of Laval
Damase Khasa is a Full Professor at Université Laval, Quebec, Canada. His research interests include agroforestry, biological invasions, integrative ecology of plant symbioses, molecular ecology and environmental genomics, land reclamation and ecological engineering, tropical silviculture, transformative education and international development. His scientific production as measured by Google metrics is (Citations: 5 159 , indice h : 40, indice i10: 108). Over the last 20 years, he has supervised or co-supervised over 200 HQP at all levels (undergraduate, M.Sc., PhD, postdocs). He has earned several awards including the International Forestry Achievement award from the Canadian Institute of Forestry in recognition of unique and outstanding contributions or achievements in international forestry (2011), and more recently the Grand diplômé award (2024) from Université Laval for his outstanding contribution to agroforestry and international forestry worldwide.
Elsa Ordway
Assistant Professor, University of California, Los Angeles
Elsa Ordway is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She is also Co-Director of the Congo Basin Institute and UCLA Center for Tropical Resarch. Her research group examines terrestrial social-ecological systems in the context of two globally pressing challenges: climate change and increasing demands for land to accommodate food, fuel, and fiber production for an estimated ten billion people by 2050. Combining remote sensing, field observations, models, and socioeconomic analyses, she integrates theory and methods from ecology, earth science, economics, and land system science to gain new insight into pattern and process across scales in forest ecosystems in the context of global environmental change.
Emmanuelle Matras-Swynghedauw
Deputy Ambassador for the Environment
A lawyer by training, Emmanuelle Matras-Swynghedauw joined the Ambassador for the Environment’s team in 2024. For over fifteen years, she has been working in environmental diplomacy for the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs and the Ministry for Ecological Transition.
Camille Lacroux
Deputy Coordinator, One Forest Vision Initiative
Camille Lacroux joined the One Forest Vision initiative at the end of 2023 as deputy coordinator. She trained as an agricultural engineer, then took a double degree in evolutionary ecology. Her thesis focused on the behavior of wild chimpanzees in Uganda, in particular the tree species they use to make their nests.
Helen Plante
Bilingual Research Administration and Impact Assistant, University of Leeds
Helen Plante coordinates project management and language services for the Congo Basin Science Initiative and CongoPeat. Helen is trained in languages (BA Hons, Trinity College, Cambridge) and management (MA, Warwick) and has over five years of experience enabling research collaboration with partners in the Congo Basin.
Lucie Temgoua
Associate Professor, University of Dschang
Lucie Temgoua is an associate Professor at the Faculty of Agronomy and Agricultural Sciences, University of Dschang in Cameroon. She is permanent secretary of the Center for Studies and Research in Agronomy and Biodiversity. Trained in forestry, her research focuses on forest and agroforestry ecosystems, particularly the analysis of the dynamics of biodiversity and ecosystem services in forest landscapes utilized by people. Her research also focuses on climate change and the contribution of agroforestry systems to both climate mitigation and adaptation for family farmers.
