MEET THE TEAM
Our Year-round Team in Kefalonia
Chanel’s devotion to conservation efforts and scientific research has led her to work with sea turtles since 2010. Her enthusiastic and ambitious attitude, combined with an inherent desire to work with vulnerable species has inspired her to promote awareness about these species and important environmental issues. Chanel has pursued this passion through working with several environmental conservation organizations, both in America and Greece. She earned her B.S. in Biology and minor in Chemistry with honors from the College of Mount Saint Vincent, NY, while interning at the Bronx Zoo, where she became interested in animal behavior. Chanel graduated from Coastal Carolina University, SC, with a master’s degree in Coastal Marine and Wetland Studies. She conducted her research thesis on loggerhead sea turtle hatchling orientation in Kyparissia, Greece. Soon after she co-founded Wildlife Sense where she now enjoys spending her days working with others to protect sea turtles in Kefalonia, where her family is from.
Nikos’ love for the sea was fostered from childhood when he would often spend hours snorkeling to observe the sea bottom and its variety of plants and animals, often freediving at forty or fifty feet to reach them. Later in life, while working as a computer programmer, he volunteered with the Red Cross’s Rescue Team in open water lifeguarding and earned a lifesaving instructor certification.
Since first volunteering for sea turtle conservation, Nikos has worked as a field researcher, field leader, and project coordinator for several conservation projects for over thirteen years. He completed a BSc in Wildlife Management at the University of Aberdeen, UK, with a dissertation research project investigating the light pollution tolerance of sea turtle hatchlings. This led him to co-found Wildlife Sense where, aside from helping run the overall operation, he can specialize in technical instrumentation for research as well as the investigation and response to violations against wildlife and the natural environment.
From a young age, Annya has always had a passion for the environment, in particular, the marine environment. Annya grew up in Jamaica and would spend hours a day in the sea looking for new fascinating organisms.
Annya’s love for marine life only thrived as she got older leading her to the University of Liverpool, where she studied Marine Biology and graduated in 2016. During her time at university, her love for sea turtles was discovered. Now, several years later, she still works with Wildlife Sense and loves to spread her knowledge on sea turtles with others.
As Programme Coordinator, you’ll often find Annya on the beaches finding sea turtle nests, flying a drone, or coordinating a tagging event. Her favourite thing during these events is measuring turtles’ plastrons.
Josh has spent near to his entire life next to the sea, traveling around and seeing a variety of different ecosystems and the animals within. This led to him spending most of his free time either in or right beside the ocean taking photos. As a result of this he decided that he would pursue a career in marine conservation, recently completing his master’s in Marine Biology!
Josh has been part of the Wildlife Sense family since 2018 when he first volunteered in Argostoli in nesting season. Since then, he has returned every year, before permanently joining the family in 2021. In 2020 he conducted his own research here by combining his two main passions; turtles and photography, which resulted in him running the Photo ID project. If he is not sitting at his desk identifying turtles or looking at excels you will most likely find him running around the harbour with either his camera or in his wetsuit!
Paulette and John recently moved from the USA to Greece, and are now full-time residents, living on the Island of Kefalonia. Until February of 2021, they had spent the previous eleven years living on a boat, cruising the coasts from Canada to Colombia. The last six of these years were spent exploring the Caribbean. Scuba diving, snorkeling, marine life, hiking, geology, botanicals, and overall flora and fauna became an important part of their lives. Along the way, their interests led them to become educated in and involved with Coral Restoration, Project Aware and REEF projects.
From their lives before their “life at sea”, both Paulette and John bring extensive career backgrounds in business development and marketing.
Lorna and Ray have been living in Kefalonia since 2008 and have been volunteers with Wildlife Sense since 2015. They became interested in turtle conservation after seeing a turtle hatchling emerge from a nest on Megali Ammos beach on a hot summer afternoon.
From May to October each summer they, together with other volunteers, find and protect the sea turtle nests and record data in the Lourdas area. They also get involved with turtle tagging events at the harbour and other projects. One of their favourite experiences was helping to release Finn, a rehabilitated hatchling, in November 2019.
When they are not walking the beaches they enjoy rambling and exploring the Island. They have made many friends and shared many experiences during their time with Wildlife Sense.
Gill and David both grew up in England, they met when Gill started teaching in London. David was a scientist and later a medical instrument service engineer, travelling widely in Europe, the Middle East and the USA.
They retired to the island in 2014 and in 2016 began to assist with nest inventories in the Lourdas area and was immediately hooked. The following year Gill was also hooked, and both have worked continuously on beach patrols every summer and in both summer and winter assist with turtle tagging events. David is working at headquarters on rebuilding a turtle skeleton for use as a teaching aid. In addition, from June to September they also put up a display at Klimatis Taverna every Tuesday explaining the work of Wildlife Sense and informing visitors and locals alike on the life and times of the sea turtles.
Our Seasonal Team
Harry is from Shropshire, England and has a BA in wildlife media and an MA in acting. He has been involved with Wildlife Sense since 2015 as a volunteer, field leader and field coordinator, his favourite shift has always been night survey observation and tagging of nesting females.
Poppy has been part of the core team for the last five years, first volunteering with Wildlife Sense in 2018! When not in Kefalonia, she’s worked with leatherbacks in Costa Rica and is currently studying in Manchester for an MSc in GIS. She loves working on the beaches and snorkelling in the sea (hopefully with a turtle or two!).
Phill has been volunteering with Wildlife Sense since 2013. He supports volunteers in Lixouri, working on nesting beaches on the Paliki peninsula. His background is Environmental Science, and he is a retired teacher. Phill is always looking forward to another exciting season ready for those early morning patrols or an emergency nest relocation.
Giles from Cambridge, England. He’s super excited to be back with Wildlife Sense in Kefalonia for the fourth year running. Walking the beaches at night under the beautiful skies looking for nesting females is just magical, and he loves going for a snorkel in the crystal clear water on his rest days.
Tyler is 22 and from Bournemouth on the south coast of England. His favourite shift is tagging at the harbour! He can often be found flying his drone over Argostoli or out snorkelling at the beach.
Alex is from Toronto, Canada and this is her third year with Wildlife Sense. After finishing her bachelor’s degree in Biology in 2021, she is now pursuing a degree in law with an interest in environmental law. Her favourite shifts are Vatsa morning shifts and night surveys!
Jodi first volunteered with Wildlife Sense in 2017 during the summer. She immediately fell in love with the project, Kefalonia, and of course the turtles! Since then, she has been back to Kefalonia almost every year since and joined the core team for the first time as a field assistant in 2021. Back at home in England, Jodi works in medical communications and recently completed a master’s in Biomedical Science Research. During her days off, Jodi can usually be found turtle spotting at Argostoli harbour or drinking coffee in one of the many amazing bakeries.
Shirley and Michael moved to Kefalonia from the UK in January 2004. After working in the tourism industry on the island for 6 years they finally retired. When Wildlife Sense was formed, they decided to join a dedicated group of people led by Chanel and Nikos. Having a broad interest in wildlife and a love of Kefalonia it seemed a very interesting prospect for them to pursue. The first few years they helped with locating and protecting turtle nests and seeing hatchlings making their way into the ocean. The last 6 years have seen them at the Harbour of Argostoli answering questions from tourists about the life of our resident turtles.
Kira’s first time to Wildlife Sense was back in 2020. She has loved working with WS for 4 years running. She lives in the South of France and is currently studying at Exeter University. She loves sports and the outdoors, especially volleyball! Her favourite shifts are Morning Surveys and Tagging events. The excitement of hearing a team member shout “head” or catching injured turtles is really exciting.
Alison is from Cork, Ireland, and lives really near the coast. She’s currently completing a master’s degree in Diagnostic Radiography. Alison’s favourite WS shifts are night survey and harbour. Harbour shifts so exciting because you get to observe sea turtles interacting in the wild, and you also get the opportunity to educate the public on how important they are.
Caitlin is from Newcastle and studied Animal behaviour with Psychology for her BSc and Animal Psychology for her MSc at the University of Chester. Caitlin has many favourite shifts, she loves morning surveys because you never know what you might find, but she also really loves going to the harbour and getting to see the turtles swimming around.
Emma is from London, England and will be based in Argostoli and Skala this season. Emma loves to do nest inventories and see all the hatchlings crawl safely to sea. She studied Sociology at University and has since started a master’s in Animal Welfare. She loves learning how we can really make a difference for animals all over the world.
Mia’s passion for the marine environment was planted at a young age, having grown up by the sea and spending my spare moments exploring local marine ecosystems, surfing and lifeguarding. After first volunteering with Wildlife Sense in the summer of 2021, she fell in love with the project and discovered a love for field work and conservation – especially finding new nests on a morning survey!
Annabel is from East Yorkshire and she fell in love with sea turtles and conservation after her first visit to Wildlife Sense in 2019. She has returned to the project ever since whilst completing her degree in Environmental Science. When Annabel is not spotting turtles along the harbour or on the beach finding tracks, she loves to spend her time eating vegan souvlaki and napping in a hammock.
I am from Godalming, England and study Ecology and Wildlife conservation at Bournemouth University. I have always loved being outdoors and am extremely passionate about wildlife conservation. I first volunteered at Wildlife Sense in Summer 2022 and had the most amazing time helping sea turtles, I especially loved experiencing night shifts and helping the hatchlings safely to sea!
Kayleigh is originally from South Africa, which is where her love of the ocean started, she moved to England when she was 7. Currently Kayleigh studies Marine Biology and Coastal Ecology at the University of Plymouth and will be going into her final year in September 2023. Her favourite shift is hatchling rescue as there is something so surreal and humbling about sleeping on the beach and helping the new hatchlings find their way safely to sea.
Angelos is a student of Biology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, he wants to focus his studies on conservation and protection of the environment. His favourite shift is hatchling rescue because he loves the peace and quiet of the night with a very lovely extra bonus of getting to see the hatchlings go to the sea. Angelos is a huge fun of Lord of the Rings and in general all of Tolkien’s work.
Jemima is from Cumbria, in England, and currently studies Marine Biology at Bangor University. When she’s not studying, Jemima loves to get out climbing or surfing. Her favourite shift is morning survey the sunrises over Kefalonia are beautiful plus it’s mega exciting discovering new nests!!
Emily is currently studying law at Exeter University and has a passion for conservation. Her favourite shift is at the harbour, where you can see turtles foraging and interacting. Also, the ice cream there is amazing! In her free time, she can be found at the beach or snorkelling.
Jodie is from West Yorkshire, UK and she studied Animal Behaviour and Welfare at Plymouth University. Jodie first worked with Wildlife Sense in 2016. She loves adventure, traveling and exploring new places.
Ellen is from a seaside village, near Bournemouth, England and studied Zoology at Southampton University, where she first discovered Wildlife Sense. She loves that Wildlife Sense is so multinational because you get to meet such a variety of people. Night surveys are her favourite shift, especially when you get to watch a female nesting!
Laura is from North Yorkshire! Her favourite shifts are morning surveys, particularly Megas Lakkos and Avithos Morning Surveys! In my free time you will find me ordering take away pizza or playing card games!
Emily is from Manchester in the UK and currently studies conservation and ecosystem management at Newcastle Uni. Her favourite shift at Wildlife Sense is a morning survey, she loves to teach find nests and teach others how to locate those eggs quickly.
Claire from Newcastle upon Tyne and studied Zoology at the University of Leeds. Her favourite Wildlife Sense shift is going out on inventories, as she loves to see hatchlings take their first breath when they enter the sea. She also loves to sunbathe and snorkel in her free time and hopefully spot some turtles too!
Imogen has recently graduated from Lancaster University, where she studied Geography. In her free time, she really enjoys climbing, so during her days off you will often find her searching for a rock to cling to! Imogen’s favourite shift is Vatsa Morning Survey because it has some of her favourite beaches.
Josh is from a small village close to Norwich. For his degree, he studied history at the University of East Anglia but now feels more drawn toward conservation particularly after his experience with Wildlife Sense last year. Although it is hard to choose from the many great experiences at Wildlife Sense, his favourite shifts were hatchling rescue and inventories.
Jess is from Devon and is currently studying for her masters in Biodiversity Conservation at Bournemouth University. One of her main highlights of Wildlife Sense was getting to be involved with nest inventories, seeing the turtles hatch, and helping them safely make their way to the sea.
Zak is from Leicester, UK and his favourite thing about Wildlife Sense is the community that is created by bringing people together and forming lifelong friendships all whilst contributing to a great cause. He is feeling very lucky to be able to join the team this year.
Iona is from Scotland am currently at studies at Aberdeen Uni, studying Marine Biology. Iona’s favourite shift has to be hatchling rescue, she’s a very sporty and outdoorsy person – loves running, playing hockey and anything involving the sea!
Lilian is from Germany and always looks forward to meeting new people that’s one of her favourite things about Wildlife Sense. She loves that people come together from all around the world to work together. Lilian’s expressed that her time as a volunteer was a ‘once-in-a-lifetime experience’, and she is incredibly excited to be part of the Wildlife Sense team this year.
Grace is currently studying Politics and International Relations. Her favourite Wildlife Sense shift has to be night shifts or morning surveys as she loves watching the sunsets and sunrises! You can find her trying to become besties with every animal in sight, snorkelling or listening to her Gilmore girl’s playlist.
Madeleine comes from a tiny village in the Southeast of England. She is excited to start studying Marine Biology at University in September. Her favourite shift at Wildlife Sense is harbour, observing the adult turtles after enjoying watching them in Kefalonia since I was little.
Josh is from just outside London, England. His favourite memory from Wildlife Sense was sleeping under the stars on hatchling rescue and helping the hatchlings to the sea. In his spare time, you will find him playing cards on the balcony.
Seren grew up in South Wales and spent many of weekends at beaches in the Gower where she developed a love for the sea. At present, Seren is studying Marine and Natural History Photography at Falmouth University and has a passion for marine conservation. Volunteering with Wildlife Sense in 2022 was an amazing experience for her, hence the return. Her favourite shift was morning beach surveys, nothing beats the excitement felt when somebody found the eggs!