Staff

Santi Saypanya
Country Program Director, Laos
For more than 15 years, Dr. Santi Saypanya has been assisting Lao PDR to better manage their protected areas, especially focused on facilitating the involvement of forest-dependent communities through development through conservation. Dr. Saypanya holds a BA in business, an MA in social marketing in conservation and a Ph.D. in conservation, and began his career with Wildlife Conservation Society in 2002. In January 2016, Dr. Saypanya began serving as Country Deputy Program Director with the Wildlife Conservation Society in Lao PDR, leading the development of National Protected Area management. In January 2019 Dr. Saypanya was named the WCS Lao PDR Country Program Director.
Manoly Sisavanh
Deputy Country Director, Laos
Manoly Sisavanh is Deputy Country Director of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Lao PDR Program. She leads WCS policy engagement in the country, supervises Counter-Wildlife Trafficking and One Health programs, and oversees office operations. She has worked in natural resources sector in Lao PDR for more than a decade, including projects on national green growth reform, protected area management, forest and wildlife law enforcement, sustainable forest management, integrated water resources management, and emerging infectious disease communications. She obtained her Master's degree in international development from Cornell University under Fulbright Scholarship and a Bachelor's in international relations from the National University of Laos combined with Indiana University of Pennsylvania under UGRAD Scholarship. Manoly's notable achievements in the recent years include her in-depth contributions into strengthening Lao PDR's forestry sector legal and institutional reforms, aiming at achieving national green and sustainable development goals and implementing international commitments under the Multilateral Environmental Agreements that Lao PDR is a party to. Manoly was one of the 2019 Mary Robinson Climate Justice Award winners for her advocacy for Lao forest rangers to be officially recognized in national legislation with mandate to protect natural resources in the frontline.
Ben Swanepoel
Program Director: NEPL landscape & WCS Country Program law enforcement advisor
Ben completed his Nature Conservation studies in South Africa in 1987 and was involved in protected area management over a period of 22 years in the South African context. He has a wealth of experience in all aspects of protected areas management and community conservation projects. Ben has a strong mentoring and community engagement philosophy and was one of a two-person team instrumental in the design and implementation of one of the leading conservation services programs in South Africa, the "Working For Water" program. In 2003, Ben obtained his degree majoring in environmental management and industrial psychology. In 2009 Ben was seconded to WWF Laos as a protected areas management advisor, during which time he resigned from his South African position to work full time in Lao PDR. In 2011 Ben joined the WCS Lao country program as program manager for the Bolikhamxay landscape, later transferring to his current position as the Nam Et-Phou Louey landscape director.
ANOUSONG SINTHAVONG
Accountant
ANOUSONG SINTHAVONG serves as Accountant at WCS.
Aphone Viengkhamhak
Program Coordinator – GIS
Aphone has worked extensively in the field of GIS with international non-governmental organizations in Lao PDR, particularly in conservation, land-use planning and forest management for more than10 years. She has experience in using different GIS applications and in conducting training in the field, for example on GPS and GIS for government and project staff. Aphone has worked for WCS as a Program Coordinator – GIS since 2014. Based in the Vientiane Office, her main responsibilities are providing maps, data analysis, technical database management and maintenance. She has also provided GIS training and coordinated with all GIS staff based in field sites as well as with government counterparts.
Bounthanom Sitthixay
Community Consultation Campaign Livelihood Technical
Bounthanom Sitthixay completed his Graduate Diploma of Agriculture and Forestry at Champasak Agriculture and Forestry College in 2007 and graduated with a Higher Diploma of Forestry at Bolikhamxay Agriculture and Forestry College in 2015. He now works with the IEWMP Project.
Channapha Phouminh
Education and Outreach officer.
Channapha has started her work since she was in University of Laos (The faculty of Environmental and science) as a volunteer call SEED. After that she works as a fieldworker for 4 years for different organizations and companies such as PSI Lao, Environment-Sustainability-Livelihood, Earth Systems Co., Ltd, Lao social research, and Namthuen 2 Hydro Power Company. In 2019 she decided to join WCS as Administration Officer – Grants and Finance position, and since March 2020 she decided to join the ADB program of WCS Lao PRD as Education and Outreach officer.
Chindavone Keomanykhod
Administrative Assistant
Chindavone KEOMANYKHOD completed her Master's degree in Business Administration and Finance from Santapol College in Thailand, following her bachelors degree in business administration from the National University of Laos. She has worked at the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) since 2020 as an Administration officer at the Vientiane office before joining the Savannakhet Landscape Program team as the Finance and Administration Officer. Chindavone believes that, “Everyone can be a good conservationist regardless of gender, because all conservationists share the same values their hearts. Gender balance within teams is important as conservation work needs a good mix of strength and tenderness.”
Dukky Phasavath
GIS Assistant
Dukky Phasavath graduated from Savannakhet University in 2019 with a Bachelor of Land management Degree in Faculty of Agriculture and Environment. He joined the WCS Savannakhet Landscape program In 2020 as the GIS and Database. He works with all of the landscapes technical staff and government counterparts providing special data and maps for diverse topics including participatory land and water use planning, biodiversity conservation, habitat change, and seasonal flooding patterns.
Emily Denstedt
Regional Technical Advisor (Health Program)
Emily completed her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Guelph and also holds a Master of Public Health degree. She has worked with an array of both domestic and wild species on a clinical level in North America, Africa, and Southeast Asia. While completing her MPH, she worked at the human-wildlife interface with Docs4GreatApes and Gorilla Doctors building capacity in frontline healthcare workers in Rwanda. Emily is involved in One Health initiatives globally as an active member of the Program Development Committee for Veterinarians Without Borders/Vétérinaires sans frontières. She enjoys teaching and was recruited in 2019 to develop undergraduate courses in One Health for students at the University of Guelph. In 2019, Emily joined WCS and the Wildlife Health Program as the Veterinary Technical Advisor for Laos. She has a passion for conservation medicine and is driven to protect the health of both wildlife and humans by finding solutions using a One Health lens.

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