Secretary-General

Achim Steiner - Germany

Areas of expertise - economics, political science and development policy and planning.
Professional background - extensive experience as advisor on rural development, economic planning and environmental policy issues with governmental and non-governmental organisations in India, Pakistan, Germany, Zimbabwe/Southern Africa,Washington/USA, Vietnam/Mekong River Basin. Most recently, Senior Policy Advisor for Global Policy with IUCN in Washington and Chief Technical Advisor with the Mekong River Commission/GTZ based in Hanoi Vietnam.

Programme Staff

Lawrence Haas - Canada

Team Leader, Global review / Focal dam case studies
Areas of expertise - engineering, environment,economics and systems planning.
Professional background - worked with governments, NGOs and consulting organizations leading multi-disciplinary teams of local professionals and international consultants on water and energy resources policy, planning and project-level studies in Africa, South Asia, East Asia, Canada and Europe. Most recently, Project Manager of the Medium Hydro Study Project in Nepal with Acres International, Canada.

Jeremy Bird - United Kingdom

Senior Advisor, River basin management, irrigation and water resources policy
Areas of expertise - civil engineering, irrigation engineering, water resource management. Professional background - consulting engineering, research with the Overseas Development Unit of Hydraulics Research Wallingford on aspects of irrigation management in South and South East Asia and Africa. Until recently, Senior project engineer with the Asian Development Bank in Manila, working on water resources development and management in South And South East Asia and in the formulation and development of ADBs water policy.

Madiodio Niasse - Senegal

Senior Advisor, Social policy issues and socio-economic impacts
Areas of expertise - Geography and Environmental Sciences
Professional background - Research and research coordination for the Senegal River Basin Monitoring Activity through the Institute for Development Anthropology. Most recently, Social Science Advisor with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)in Dakar and in Abidjan, advising on the formulation and assessment of development programmes in more than 10 West African countries.

Jamie Skinner - United Kingdom

Environment and ecosystems management issues
Areas of expertise - biology and wetlands ecosystems, zoology.
Professional background - Researched wetlands management in Tunisia, and IUCN-wetland Programme in Mali; consultancies on floodplain conservation and management throughout Africa. Until recently, Conservation Director at the Centre for Mediterranean Wetland Conservation and Research in the Camargue, France (Tour de Valat), and coordinator of the GEF regional programme on coastal and wetlands ecosystems.

S. Parasuraman - India

Team Leader, Social impacts and displacement / resettlement issues
Areas of expertise - Anthropology and Demography; research in the following areas: rural studies, research methodology, development planning, displacement and resettlement.
Professional background - Deputy National Director of Oxfam, India. Recently Professor at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India and author of "Development Dilemma: Displacement and Rehabilitation in India" (forthcoming).

Bruce Aylward - USA

Economics, Finance and Policy Issues
Areas of expertise - agriculture, energy, environment and natural resource economics
Professional background - Research and consulting with International Institute of Environment and Development and other NGOs and bilateral/multilateral agencies. Experience in watershed management, hydropower, nature tourism, livestock, aquaculture, park management, biodiversity conservation and forest management. Most recently, Principal Economist and Director of Information and Communications at the Iwokrama International Centre for Rain Forest Conservation and Development in Guyana.

Christopher Clarke - South Africa

Program Co-ordinator, Cross-Check Survey
Areas of expertise - engineering, information systems and environment
Professional background - Engineer experienced in design using Finite Element Mechanics and computer modelling techniques. CEO of engineering consultancy for 5 years, led multi-disciplinary teams of professionals for project management. Experience in policy, planning and project-level studies in Southern Africa with NGOs and private sector. Some experience with freshwater ecosystems, environmental management systems and auditing. Most recently, start-up consultant to management information systems company, and ecotourism initiatives for mega-reserves, South Africa.

Saneeya Hussain - Pakistan

Senior Advisor, Communications outreach and stakeholder consultation
Areas of expertise - editing and publishing, media relations media/communications capacity building, communication reviews and Strategies, and languages.
Professional background - magazine editor of a national newspaper, 'The Star', other work involving advertising, journalism and environmental communications in Pakistan and South East Asia. Served on a number of teams/Commissions reviewing resettlement programmes in India. Until recently, head of communications at IUCN - the World Conservation Union, covering Pakistan and its regional programmes in Asia.

James Workman - USA

Senior Advisor, Communications outreach and media
Native Californian James Workman studied at Oxford and Yale, earning a degree in history. After five years in Washington as a Press Association award winning business and political journalist he became special assistant, speech writer, press aide and communications strategist to US Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt. There he gained six years of extensive experience writing critically about development issues concerning, in particular: wildland fire ecology, aquatic ecosystems, native fish and wildlife restoration, endangered species, property rights, hydropower relicensing and dam decommissioning.

Corli Pretorius - South Africa

Programme liaison officer

Finance & Administration Staff

Solly Fazel - South Africa Finance/Admin manager

Phumla Yeki - South Africa

Nadia Richards - South Africa

Jacques Coetzee - South Africa

Lucia Hickman - South Africa

Noluthando Magadla - South Africa

Yumna McCann - South Africa

Pamela Morris - South Africa

Research Fellows and Interns

The WCD Work Programme has been fortunate to have a large number of research fellows contributing to the work programme during the life of the Commission. The time they spent at the Commission ranged from one month to nine months:

Nicolas Gutman - Argentina

Mark Cassidy - Australia

Luis Paulo Ferraz - Brazil

Jason Switzer - Canada

Sophia Chan - Canada

Manrique Rojas - Costa Rica

Sohini Sengupta - India

Saule Ospanova - Kazakhstan

Alice Ojwang - Kenya

Pamela Wallace - Malawi

Anneli Lagman - Philippines

Khutso Madubanya - South Africa

Pumeza Nodada - South Africa

Chaminda Rajapakse - Sri Lanka

Laurence Haller - Switzerland

Sarah Porter - USA

Huynh Thuba - Viet Nam

Sandi Neilsen - Zimbabwe

Webster Whande - Zimbabwe

Temporary Staff

The Commission would like to recognise the contribution of the following individuals who joined the Secretariat for various periods of time:

Programme Staff

Kate Dunn - Canada

Pat Govender - South Africa

Sanjeev Khagram - United States

Elizabeth Monosowski - Brazil

Eric Noel - Australia

Engelbertus Oud - The Netherlands

Finance and Administration

Nikki Boltman - South Africa

Kathy Bova - South Africa

Michel Cozien - South Africa

Salih Hendricks - South Africa

Ian Fennell - United Kingdom

Marshay Mackay - South Africa

Ashleigh Meier - Zimbabwe

Consultants and Advisors

The WCD wishes to acknowledge the contribution of the following individuals for their special inputs as consultants and advisors to the Secretariat and the Commissioners:

Pablo Gutman - Argentina

Jeremy Berkoff - United Kingdom

Maggie Black - United Kingdom

Dick Cloete - South Africa

Tim Cullen - United Kingdom

Robert Goodland - United States

Mark Halle - Switzerland

Minoru Kuriki - Japan

Donal O'Leary - Ireland

Katarzyna Ronda - South Africa

John Scanlon - Australia

Mark Svendson - United States

Linda Starke - United States

Allan Taylor - South Africa

Martin ter Woort - Canada