ACA Staff
In Washington, DC
Luis Felipe Duchicela, ACA's new Executive Director as of February 1st, 2011, brings substantial experience from the private, government and nonprofit sectors throughout Latin America. Over the past decade, Luis Felipe has worked on economic development projects, with funding mainly from USAID, where he promoted sustainable agricultural production in the Chapare, Bolivia and then directed cocoa production in the Ecuadorean Amazon. In the last six years, he has served as Regional Director for Rainforest Alliance, first in Central America and Mexico, and more recently in Ecuador and the Andean Amazon Region, where he was in charge of promoting Best Management Practices and Sustainable Livelihoods in Agriculture (coffee, cocoa and bananas), Forestry (Timber and Brazil nut) and Tourism in fragile ecosystems of these countries. Luis Felipe was also the first National Secretary of Indigenous Affairs of Ecuador in 1994, under the Presidency of Sixto Duran Ballen, and managed to create the first multimillion dollar fund exclusively for indigenous and afroecuadorean development with World Bank and IFAD funding. He is Ecuadorean, of Quechua descent. He studied Architecture and Regional Planning in the Universidad Central of Ecuador in Quito and then obtained a Masters in Public and Private Management at Yale University, with emphasis in Finance, Corporate Strategies and Quantitative Analysis.
Megan MacDowell, ACA’s DC Office Director, has worked for several major conservation organizations including the Nature Conservancy, the World Wildlife Fund, and Conservation International. She has also led ecology and sustainable development study programs in Brazil and Costa Rica for Antioch Education Abroad and International Student Volunteers. Before ACA, Megan worked with Conservation International’s Education and Social Marketing program, where she supported field staff in designing and carrying out environmental education programs focused on behavior change. Megan has a BA in Biology and Environmental Studies from Swarthmore College and a master’s in Sustainable Development and Conservation Biology from the University of Maryland.
Hannah Stutzman, ACA’s Associate Director of Programs, manages our Manu - Tambopata Corridor project and our Cusco-based Indigenous REDD project, and helps design new projects and strategies. She has worked on conservation, sustainable development and cultural issues with major NGOs in the US and Latin America. While recently living in Bogota, Colombia she worked with organizations including Conservation International and the Colombian Ministry of Culture. Hannah has a Master’s of Environmental Management from Yale University and a BA in Anthropology from Bryn Mawr College.
Danielle King, ACA’s DC-based Program Assistant, returns after having interned with ACA in the spring of 2010. Danielle has also interned with the National Parks Conservation Association's Center for State of the Parks and Government Affairs Division. She received her BA in International Studies from American University, where she studied global environmental policy and international development, and attended Universiteit Maastricht; Maastricht, Netherlands for a semester in 2010.
Eileen Rosin, Finance Manager for ACA, has worked on issues of international development and human rights in Latin America for more than twenty-five years. Recently, she managed the Washington Office on Latin America’s three-year project on the impact of U.S. international anti-drug policy on democracy and human rights in Latin America and the Caribbean, and is co-editor of the well-received volume Drugs and Democracy in Latin America. She has also worked as editor, grantwriter, financial manager, and publications coordinator with a number of Washington-based non-profit organizations. Ms. Rosin has a master’s of science in Development Management from American University.
Candice Duggan, ACA’s DC-based Development Associate, comes to us from Atlanta, GA, where she has handled fundraising and event planning for nationally recognized organizations involved in conservation, sustainability and transformational development. She received her BS in Public Policy from Georgia State University, where she studied Non-Profit Leadership.
In Peru (ACCA staff)
Augusto Mulanovich, ACCA’s Peru Director based in Puerto Maldonado, Peru, has worked the past 15 years as a
professional conservationist for the protection of the Amazon.
Augusto's experience and expertise include wildlife management and
policy, ecotourism, non-timber forest product management, forestry
policy, protected areas management, environmental education, eco-business, and most recently implementing Payment for Environmental Services
(PES) schemes such as Reduction of Emissions from Deforestation and
Degradation (REDD). Furthermore, Augusto's pioneering work in butterfly farming has been an
example of sustainable alternatives for the Amazon rainforest.
Augusto is a Forestry Engineer from La Molina University in Lima and
thanks to the Russell E. Train Scholarship from the EFN-WWF program,
Augusto was granted a full scholarship to study Forest and Nature
Conservation with a specialization in Policy and Management at Wageningen University in the Netherlands where he
obtained his Master of Science degree.
Daniela Pogliani, ACCA's Director of Finance and Administration based in Lima, Peru, has more than 13 years of professional experience in administration, project management, and finance in both the for-profit and nonprofit sectors. She has a Master’s degree in business administration from a top European business school in Milan, Italy, as well as a bachelor’s degree in business administration and accounting. She has managed a USAID-funded conservation project in Peru for the Rainforest Alliance, where she was also responsible for managing the budgeting, accounting, human resources, and administrative functions for all of their Peru-based activities. Previously, she was responsible for the start-up of a sustainable fish farming project in Northern Peru. Daniela is Italian by nationality but has lived and worked in Peru for over a decade and is fluent in Spanish as well as English.
Ronald Catpo, ACCA’s Director for Conservation Areas and Institutional Strengthening based in Cusco, Peru, Ronald has worked with ACCA since 2007 mainly as the director of the Cusco office. Ronald has been a lifelong promoter of conservation through reforestation, social forestry, and conservation concessions, and was instrumental in the creation of the 17,238-acre Haramba Queros Wachiperi Ecological Reserve, the first conservation concession managed by an indigenous group in Peru. Ronald previously worked for ProManu, a special project sponsored by the European Union that developed conservation activities to support Manu National Park. He has also worked for the Peruvian park service as well as the well-respected Peruvian NGO ProNaturaleza, as well as several other NGOs and government agencies in Peru. Ronald has a bachelor’s degree in forestry management and a master’s degree in conservation and forestry resources from the National Agrarian University of La Molina in Lima.
Adrian Tejedor, ACCA’s Science Manager based at Villa Carmen, was born in Havana, Cuba, and has worked extensively throughout the Neotropics studying evolution and biogeography. At Villa Carmen, he coordinates research, courses, and the ACA grants program. Adrian has a BS in Biology from the University of Miami, and a PhD in Ecology, Evolution and Behavior from City University of New York. He is also a research associate at the American Museum of Natural History.
Daniel Huaman, ACCA's Science Manager for our Wayqecha Biological Station in Cusco, Peru, is a biologist whose research is directed towards the production of information to assist decision making for the conservation of natural areas. Daniel has a particular interest in using communication and education as tools to share knowledge with the public and expand conservation efforts. At Wayqecha, he coordinates an environmental education program with children from the highlands of Manu. Daniel has worked as a researcher and field coordinator for projects of various organizations and the Peruvian government such as, APECO (Asociación Peruana para la Conservación de la Naturaleza), the Pro-Manu Project and INRENA, the government natural resources agency.
In Bolivia
Jasivia Gonzales, ACA-Bolivia’s Research Coordinator, worked as a researcher for several prestigious Bolivian organizations including the National Herbarium of Bolivia and the Natural History Museum in La Paz prior to joining ACA-Bolivia in 2004. Jasivia participated in studies demonstrating the economic importance of the use of plants at the National Park Integrated Management Office of Cotapata, Bolivia in addition to many research projects on vegetation and fern life in the Andean mountain range of Real de La Paz. She holds a PhD in Natural Science from the Georg-August de Goettingen University in Germany, where her research centered on botany and ecology of the high-Andean vegetation. Jasivia holds a BA in Biology from the San Andres University of La Paz, Bolivia.
Johnny Ayala, Coordinator of Zoology for ACA-Bolivia, earned his master’s degree in Ecology and Conservation at the University of San Andrés, Bolivia. Johnny has worked on various field studies, including monitoring hunting in indigenous communities and radiotelemetry of mammals and reptiles. Johnny has a wide knowledge of traditional use of fauna by indigenous communities in Bolivia. He has worked with several conservation organizations, including BOLBOR, VAIPO, CIDDEBENI, and WCS-CABI.
Marcos Teran, Researcher for ACA-Bolivia, is a specialist in mammal population dynamics with an emphasis on bats. He has a BA in Biology from the University of San Andrés, Bolivia, and holds an MA in the Management and Conservation of Tropical Biodiversity. Marcos is a member of the IUCN’s Mammal Specialist Group in Bolivia and is part of various conservation programs such as the Bolivian Program for Bat Conservation (PCMB) and the Bolivian Association of Mammal Researchers (ABIMA).
Sulema Castro, ACA-Bolivia’s Accountant, holds an MA in Public Administration from the University of San Andrés. She brings with her more than 20 years of professional experience including managing projects through environmental organizations, the World Bank, the Ecological Institute, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Organization of American States, and many others.
ACA Executive Director Luis Felipe Duchicela (far right) with Ronald Catpo, Megan MacDowell, and Adrian Tejedor (left to right). Photo: Leoncio Luna
ACA-Bolivia staff on an expedition to record the plant diversity in the Pampas del Heath. Photo: ACA
ACCA staff prepare the strategic plan in Puerto Maldonado, Peru. Photo: Nurymar Feldman
ACA-DC staff members at a planning retreat in August 2008. Photo: Nigel Pitman
ACA staff members taking in the view at a staff retreat in August 2008. Photo: Megan MacDowell
Megan MacDowell, Cesar Moran, Amy Rosenthal, and Nigel Pitman at 2008 ACA retreat. Photo: Gena Mavuli
ACCA Director of Operations, Augusto Mulanovich, on the Canopy Walkway at Wayqecha. Photo: Megan MacDowell
ACCA Science Manager, Adrian Tejedor, on the Canopy Walkway at Wayqecha. Photo: Megan MacDowell
ACA-Bolivia staff conducting an assessment of Brazil nut trees in the Takana II communities north of Madidi National Park. Photo: ACA-Bolivia
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