ABOUT THE PROJECT COEXISTENCE
FILM TEAM
Audrey Delsink, Ph.D.
Dr Audrey Delsink is the wildlife director of Humane Society International (HSI Africa). She oversees HSI’s wildlife campaigns in Africa, championing the protection of wildlife through humane population control alternatives and human-wildlife conflict solutions, as well as ending captive lion breeding and its associated spin-off industries. Her research on the African elephant (Loxodonta africana) – her passion – has been focused on of spatial ecology, humane population control and human interactions, and the implications for management. Audrey is a registered professional natural scientist in the field of ecology and has spent 20+ years researching driver decisions of elephant movement in protected areas, and promoting human-wildlife coexistence. Having lived and worked in protected reserves amongst Africa’s Big 5 for almost 20 years, Audrey has first-hand experience of living with and managing these iconic species. Audrey is the lead and co-author of numerous peer-reviewed publications and popular articles. Audrey is a member of the IUCN SSC African Elephant Specialist Group. Audrey was listed on Treeshake’s top 76 most influential South African voices speaking up for the environment.
Personally, Audrey is mom to two rowdy, handsome boys aged twelve and nine, and a handful of furry four-legged’s including 2 rescue cats, 2 rescue dogs and a Weimaraner (who is by far and wide the leader of the pack!). Her husband Ross, is also in the Conservation space serving to protect wetland biodiversity. The family lives in South Africa’s beautiful Western Cape and enjoy the vistas on their bikes or on foot with the dogs whenever they can.
Karen Herman, Ph.D.
Karen Herman, Ph.D. is co-founder and Director of Sky Mountain Wild Horse Sanctuary and Director of Mount Taylor Mustangs, LLC. She is committed to humane, long-term planning for wild and free-roaming horses, wildlife, and ecosystems through using scientific and technological innovation to improve animal and range health. Mount Taylor Mustangs and Sky Mountain Wild Horse Sanctuary work with tribal, federal, and state agencies, as well as communities and private landowners to develop comprehensive herd planning. Mount Taylor Mustangs has developed and implemented remote control corral-trapping and patented technology for remote application of fertility control for wildlife. In collaboration with diverse partners, the organizations pioneered the first use of immunocontraception for mustangs on a USDA Forest Service-managed wild horse territory in the U.S., and have assisted with research on the efficacy of multi-year immunocontraception treatment. The Sanctuary is a refuge for a band of vulnerable wild horses now roaming free forever after removal from their home range. Mount Taylor Mustangs and Sky Mountain Wild Horse Sanctuary are working for all wildlife, wild lands, and the next generation.
You are invited to tour Sky Mountain Wild Horse Sanctuary virtually and meet the Sky band roaming free together forever in sanctuary at www.skymountainwild.org
Lucy Noland
A multiple award-winning storyteller, Lucy Noland’s career has given her what she calls “a backstage pass to the world” where she has brought some of the biggest stories of our time into the homes of people from New York City to Los Angeles. She has shepherded Alaskans through volcanic eruptions and the ash-filled days that followed, Californians through devastating wildfires, and Texans through hurricanes and the equally life-threatening aftermath.
Lucy’s storytelling has brought people onto oil platforms in Alaska’s Cook Inlet, to the Arctic Ocean’s Beaufort Sea where North Slope oil rigs drill adjacent to what environmentalists call the Serengeti of the North, and to one of the largest environmental disasters in U.S. history: the Exxon Valdez oil spill in the ecologically-rich Prince William Sound.
Along the way, shows Lucy has written, shows she has anchored, breaking news she has covered and stories she has reported and produced have been honored by the Emmy Awards, the Golden Mike Awards the Edward R. Murrow Awards and the Associated Press Broadcasters Awards. The Humane Society of the United States and many other animal welfare organizations have also honored her for her advocacy.
Barbara Riebman
Barb Riebman is an animal rights activist. Her academic background in child psychology is foundational to her advocacy for the protection of nonhuman animals. Her approach to animal causes earned her a “Best in Philly” award in 1979 when she incorporated one of the first cat rescue nonprofits in Philadelphia with the support of Howard Wellens, VMD, an officer of the Burket-Plack Foundation. The award brought Barb to the attention of the Morris Animal Refuge directors who offered her the position of shelter manager. It was at Morris that Barb met Priscilla Cohn Ferrater Mora, a philosophy professor at Penn State and esteemed ethicist focusing on the protection of nonhuman animals. Priscilla was also president of the PNC Foundation, funding a new and effective humane animal fertility control vaccine. In 2007, after the sad and sudden death of Connie Burket, Barb joined the Burket-Plack Foundation at Howard’s request. With the prescient support of the Burket-Plack Foundation, Howard and Barb joined Priscilla as allies. Through their science-focused funding, the team backed the groundbreaking PZP work of Jay Kirkpatrick, Ph.D. Since then, PZP has been implemented all over the world to replace lethal methods of fertility control. Barb’s vision for humane peaceful coexistence has guided her philanthropy and charitable work for over forty years. Her historical knowledge of porcine zona pellucida is the backbone of Project Coexistence.
Chris Roland
Chris Roland is a multi-talented and award-winning writer, director, and producer based in Cape Town. He has written, directed, and/or produced 80+ films, series, commercials, and two books. His films and TV programs have won 25+ international film festivals and awards. He has owned seven companies in the entertainment industry, including production, sales, finance, and equipment rentals. Chris now focuses on writing and directing, and providing consulting to the global entertainment industry, drawing from his vast experience on three continents.
Peripherally, Chris holds a diploma in Integral Sound Healing, providing individual and group Sound Baths employing 20+ musical instruments. Chris also provides team building to corporates using sound and music, and provides counseling and coaching to clients around the globe.
Abigail Rodriguez
Abby Rodriguez has spent the last fifteen years working in production and development for unscripted television. She began her career at the in-house studio for National Geographic where she developed and produced series like Monsterfish and Snake Salvation. She was Vice President of Development for Everywoman Studios where she created series like HBO’s Prisoner of the Prophet and developed and executive produced the film Uncharted with Alicia Keys for Paramount Plus. Abby currently oversees distribution for the hit global series The Chosen and is based in Washington D.C.
Allen Rutberg, Ph.D.
Dr. Allen Rutberg is Director of the Tufts Center for Animals and Public Policy and research associate professor in the Department of Infectious Disease and Global Health at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University. Trained as a behavioral ecologist, he earned his Ph.D. in zoology at the University of Washington, Seattle, in 1984, carrying out field studies on the behavior of American bison and wild horses. After a stint teaching undergraduate biology at Vassar College and elsewhere, Dr. Rutberg joined The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) as senior scientist for wildlife and habitat protection, where he served from 1991 to 2000. At HSUS, he initiated field studies of immunocontraceptive vaccines for the control of deer and wild horse populations, which he has continued since joining the Cummings School faculty in 2000. At Cummings School, he directs the M.S. program in Animals in Public Policy, teaches classes in wildlife policy, wildlife in captivity, and policy communication, and mentors graduate and veterinary student research and internships.
John Turner, Ph.D.
John W. Turner, Jr. is an endocrinologist (Ph.D., Cornell University; Postdoctoral training, UCLA) with extensive expertise in reproductive biology and stress physiology. He is a Professor of Physiology engaged in teaching and research at the University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences (UTCOMLS) and his research endeavors have included pioneering research in the field of wildlife contraception and effects of chronically deteriorating habitats on stress levels of wildlife and fish and the psychophysiology of human stress-related disorders and their treatment. He has 45 years of direct field experience with more than10 different wild horse populations and has been heavily involved in the research, development and testing of native PZP and PZP-22 controlled-release contraceptive vaccine and their applications in multiple species. His research efforts have involved collaboration with investigators at 12 US and 4 foreign universities and have yielded 128 peer-reviewed journal papers and reviews, with 76 of those in wildlife contraception and PZP-related research. He has authored multiple book chapters and edited 6 books. He has served as a wildlife-contraception management consultant for the US Forest Service and for more than 20 parks and preserves worldwide. His awards include the US Forest Service Chief Award (2005) and two University Career Research Awards (2006; 2012).
