Course Leaders
BTEC Course in Ecuador in Biological Survey Techniques

Britt Larsen - Director of Programmes

Britt Larsen joined GVI almost 5 years ago as the Expedition Manager of the remote Amazon Expedition in Ecuador. She ran the program for 18 months and was then appointed to set up the Costa Rican wildlife expedition in the coastal lowland rainforest on the Caribbean coast. After set up she managed the Costa Rica expedition for a year and naturally moved on to manage all South American Expeditions for a year and a half before finally being promoted to Director of Programmes. She now overseas all GVI field programmes and has been key in the GVI reaction to Hurricane Dean in Mexico, and in the set up and running of corporate volunteer and community capacity building programs for Whole Foods Market (Fortune 100) and Kraft Foods through the GVI Corporate Alliance. Britt is an Emergency First Response Instructor Trainer, an Off-Site Safety Management trainer, a certified powerboat driver and holds a B.Sc. in Zoology from Newcastle University. Originally from Denmark, Britt has worked and studied abroad during the last 12 years. She has run independent zoological expeditions to Tanzania, where she conducted primate, mammal, bird and amphibian surveys in the Udzungwa Mountains of the Eastern Arc, and to Ecuador’s cloud forest searching for the endangered Pacarana, the 3rd largest rodent in the world. She has also sailed across the Atlantic in a 36-foot ketch, cycled around Central America for a year working in a range of National Parks and has traveled extensively around Africa, Europe and the Americas. With over 10 years of international field experience, Britt has managed research, community and conservation programs globally and is a key member of the GVI team.

Louise Murgatroyd - Country Director - Ecuador

Louise joined GVI early in 2005 to set up the regional office in Ecuador and established the current Amazon expedition at Yachana Reserve in January, 2006. Armed with an English degree and a passion for travel, Louise left her native Toronto in the early ‘90s and developed a keen interest in conservation and the environment while working aboard an Antarctic cruise ship. After continuing her travels and professional development in Australia, Southeast Asia, and the Caribbean, she returned to Canada to complete a master’s degree in marine resource management in which she focused her studies on eco-tourism and protected areas. Louise holds professional instructor certifications in sailing, scuba diving and TEFL. She has provided instruction and leadership in youth training adventures around the world, and developed an on-going youth community service programme in the Galapagos Islands. She has worked as a lighthouse keeper on Canada’s west coast, and as the co-ordinator of a marine stewardship initiative that provided public education and monitoring in British Columbia’s intensive orca whale watching industry. With a keen interest in conservation, protected areas, eco-tourism and sustainable community development, Louise brings her marine and coastal experience to the equally diverse and threatened environment of Ecuador's Amazon region.

Germania Estevez - Programme Co-ordinator

An Ecuadorian biologist, Germania studied Biology at the Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Ecuador, in Quito. Her professional interests included the systematics of spiders and butterflies. She has actively participated in various international studies and projects regarding invertebrates, which has taken her throughout Ecuador. She was the Ecuadorian counterpart for several international research projects, and was the curator of the Department of Entomology and Head of the Invertebrate Section of the Ecuadorian Museum of Natural Sciences (MECN) from 1992 - 2000. Germania is the co-author of the book “Mariposas del Ecuador”. Following this she became the assistant curator of the Terrestrial Invertebrates Collection of the Charles Darwin Research Station in the Galapagos Islands from 2000 to 2005. She then moved to Costa Rica where she was a collaborator on the Spider Collection of the Instituto National de Biodiversidad (INBio) for a few months before becoming the coordinator for a Sea Turtle Conservation Project and then the resident biologist for a Wildcat Rescue Shelter. She has returned to her native Ecuador to join GVI Yachana as the expedition manager where she is taking a keen interest in all activities and is enjoying sharing Ecuadorian culture with the expedition members.

Adam Calo - Science Co-ordinator

Adam first decided to take action against the unchecked squandering of the environment while sea kayaking in the Gulf of California. Here, where desert meets ocean, Adam came face to face with island biogeography in its finest. He paddled through pods of dolphins and managed to catch a glimpse of breaching minke whales. Whilst dumbstruck by the awesome balance of nature he also learned of its peril: encroaching, unchecked industry; delinquent corporate moguls hungry for profits; unregulated international fishing fleets, and the apathy of humans. It was at this moment that he looked down at his own half eaten tuna can and learned that it came from a bottom-trawling Thai fishing fleet. He cast that tin into the ocean and in one move declared himself vegetarian and protector of the environment. (It was later said that realizing his act of littering he swam two miles of open water to retrieve his trash and add an exclamation mark to his new way of life.) Adam walked into the United States at the US/Tijuana border crossing and enrolled in University of California San Diego’s ecology programme. There, his two-fold interest in tropical ecology and wilderness guiding developed. These pursuits trained him in the use of one-handed tools like a hand lens, an ice axe, callipers, specimen bags, and a Grigri. On hiatus from his guiding days, Adam is focussing on research involving the chytrid fungus and amphibians in tropical and temperate latitudes. Resident knot expert and Wilderness First Responder, Adam also possesses the most masterful Frisbee throws ever seen in the Amazon.

Matt Iles - Field Staff

Hailing from south Wales, Matt followed his childhood passion for insects and other wildlife by studying for his undergraduate degree in zoology, at the University of Liverpool, England. Following this, Matt worked as a research assistant for the university studying rocky shore ecology. He stayed in Liverpool to study for an MSc in the Restoration Ecology of Aquatic and Terrestrial Habitats. This course involved extensive studies into the conservation and management of many habitat types, in addition to botany and ecology. It culminated in a study into ground beetle assemblages in translocated grasslands at Manchester airport. Following this, Matt worked for an environmental consultancy performing bird and amphibian surveys, in addition to office-based GIS work. Matt’s interests on the expedition focus on entomology, ornithology and restoration ecology. He is also highly interested in the conservation and sustainable management of the Amazon region. Matt plans to initiate restoration work with the aim of re-seeding lost primary forest areas in the Yachana Reserve. This is Matt’s first taste of the tropics. He hopes to bring his enthusiasm and awe for nature to the expedition, coupled with a long-term view for the management and restoration of tropical ecosystems. Outside of the expedition Matt’s interests include surfing, rugby, cheese and music. He is also currently trying to expand his limited Spanish repertoire and relishes the opportunity to work closely with members of the local community.

Cha Caruthers - Community Co-ordinator

Cha grew up in Saudi Arabia and her extensive travels through Southeast Asia, East Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America have provided her with a unique perspective of the world. An American by accent, a Saudi by youth, and an Argentine at heart, Cha’s natural passion for culture led her to undergraduate studies in Spanish, sociology, and cultural studies at Pitzer College in California. There, she was encouraged to reflect upon the origins of the world’s inequalities and graduated with honours and a framework to understand complex international issues. After graduation, Cha volunteered at an orphanage in India and an organic farm in Costa Rica. Then, calling upon her past wilderness experience with the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), she went to work at the NOLS headquarters in the cold mountains of Wyoming. Latin America beckoned once again and she readily accepted a position with GVI where she focuses on the community development aspects of the Amazon expedition. Cha brings a global perspective to the small research station in the Amazon and is excited about working as part of an interdisciplinary team to address conservation in the rainforest. She believes that the sustainability of an area ultimately depends on the collaborative and integrated efforts of those involved in measuring biodiversity and conducting research, and those who are neither biologists nor resource managers, but who struggle daily to survive using the resources available to them.

Jonathan Escolar - Base Manager

Jonathan grew up and was educated in England, but having English/Spanish parentage has spent a lot of time living and working in both countries. In England he studied zoology at undergraduate level, and went on to complete an MSc in human geography and sustainable development at University College London. Prior to joining GVI, Jon worked at an environmental consultancy in Murcia, Spain. He first cut his teeth in the tropics in the rainforests of Tambopata, Peru, spending most of 2006 working there as a naturalist and rainforest guide. Since then he has been captivated by Latin America and has travelled in Brazil, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. Jon has fieldwork experience monitoring diverse groups including birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians, and is interested in the fields of landscape scale ecology, ecological economics and community-based conservation. On the Amazon expedition, Jon seeks to increase his own knowledge of this beautiful and immensely complex ecosystem and pass on his knowledge and enthusiasm to members of the expedition and the local community. Aside from these professional interests, Jon enjoys music, sports, reading and spicy foods.