Phil Guillery

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Phil has worked for over 30 years to combat illegal logging and has supported efforts to recognise responsible forest management practised by communities and others throughout his career. Phil is a global leader in bringing technology and transparency to the forest sector and is the Director of World Forest ID.

Erin Carter

FINANCIAL ADVISOR, USA

Erin has worked in the finance sector for over 25 years and is the senior Vice President CFO at Medtronic Corporation, a Fortune 200 company, where she manages over $9 billion in revenue of a key business unit. Erin is the Financial Advisor to World Forest ID.

Cynel Moundounga

COLLECTOR, GABON

Cynel currently works for the Tropical Ecology Research Institute of the National Center for Scientific and Technological Research of Gabon. He is pursuing his PhD in plant ecology and will join the faculty of the University of Yaoundé in Cameroon. As a collector for World Forest ID, Cynel leads expeditions in Gabon, Cameroon and the Republic of Congo.

Margaret Staton

CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE MANAGER, USA

Margaret is an Associate Professor in the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She uses computational genetic and genomic approaches to understand forest and orchard tree evolution, adaptation and phenotypes. She develops mobile and web apps for scientists to support data collection and leads the cyberinfrastructure development for World Forest ID.

Erin McClure-Price

FORENSIC CHEMIST, USA

Erin is a Forensic Chemist for US Forest Service International Programs Wood Identification and Screening Center (WISC) specialising in timber identification using DART-TOFMS. She has over 10 years of experience working in forensics and leads research for the WISC team. Erin is co-curator of the ForeST© database and uses World Forest ID samples to provide forensic support to US law enforcement agencies.

Marysol Jaime Arteaga

LATIN AMERICA (LATAM) PROGRAM MANAGER, PERU

Marysol manages the LATAM Wood ID Program for US Forest Service International Programs. In support of World Forest ID., Marysol leads all LATAM expeditions and brings together an extensive network of local collectors, expedition leaders, scientists and law enforcement stakeholders in the region.

Charlie Watkinson

BIOCHEMIST AND DATA ANALYST, UK

Charlie is the Senior Biochemist and Data Analyst at Agroisolab UK. Charlie uses Stable Isotope Ratio Analysis (SIRA) and Geoscientific Analyses to verify food authenticity for retailers and food companies. In support of World Forest ID, Charlie uses these same tools to verify the origin of a tree species.

Nathalie Bouville

COLLECTION COORDINATOR, GABON/CENTRAL AFRICA

Nathalie has supported World Forest ID collection efforts for the last three years and now coordinates expedition activities in Africa. Her focus has been on coordinating field work in Congo Basin forests, providing stakeholder outreach and promoting the work of World Forest ID with the media and stakeholders.

Somporn Khongthanakrittakorn (Koki)

COLLECTOR, THAILAND

Koki has spent 20 years working in the forestry sector in the Mekong Delta. He has experience as a forester, auditor and researcher, focusing on the unique challenges of micro-enterprises and smallholders in the global market. Koki was one of the first collectors for World Forest ID and subsequently contributed to the development of field protocols and virtual training.

Peter Gasson

LEAD WOOD ANATOMIST, UK

Peter is the research leader in wood and timber at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. He has more than 40 years of experience working in systematic wood anatomy and the identification of fragmentary plant material, especially timbers, for a wide variety of enquiries including enforcement, timber importers, antique dealers and archaeologists. As the lead wood anatomist for World Forest ID, Peter uses his expertise to confirm or refute wood identity and provenance.

Abdullah Almsaeed

DATA SCIENTIST, USA

Abdullah is a software developer in the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He develops web-based and mobile-based applications along with databases that aid scientists in collecting and analysing data. He is the lead developer of the WFID mobile and web applications.

Evi Mateboer

Technical Advisor

Evi has worked for two decades in the voluntary sustainability systems realm covering third-party certification, accreditation and oversight, and system and standard development. Evi is the Senior Integrity Manager at Assurance Services International (ASI). For World Forest ID, Evi provides her expertise and guidance through her role on the Executive Board.

Jill Wegrzyn

ANALYTIC DATA ARCHITECT, USA

Jill is an Associate Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Connecticut. Jill leads the TreeGenes Database, which represents an integrated genomic and phenomic community resource for forest health and breeding. For World Forest ID, Jill’s team is developing map-based applications to both view and analyse genetic, chemical and anatomical data for timber species.

Victor Deklerck

RESEARCH TEAM LEAD, UK

Victor came to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, from the State University of New York – Albany, where he studied the metabolite distribution within trees using LADI mass spectrometry. His expertise lies in data analysis, DART-TOFMS, wood science and forestry. Victor leads the World Forest ID Research Team on assessing new timber forensic techniques as well as optimising and combining existing techniques using AI.

Jade Saunders

SENIOR POLICY ANALYST , UK

Jade has worked on forest governance, trade and environmental crime for nearly 20 years, most notably as an Associate Fellow of the Environment and Society programme at Chatham House in London. She is an independent member of the World Forest ID Board and leads working groups on Law Enforcement and Technology. She is an anthropologist by training and is currently employed as a Senior Policy Analyst at Forest Trends in Washington, DC.

Scot McQueen

TECHNOLOGY ADVISOR, USA

Scott joined FSC as the Senior Technology Officer in July of 2021, coming from Esri, where he was the Senior Account Executive responsible for global sales strategy, messaging and major account development within the commercial forestry sector. While at Esri, Scot worked with over 300 commercial forestry customers and has built strong alliances with partners in industry and technology companies that have timber management solutions. For World Forest ID, Scot brings extensive experience with strategic planning, project management and partner–client relationship building.

Emily Crumley

COLLECTIONS AND OPERATIONS, USA

Emily has been working in the forestry sector for over 20 years, supporting responsible forest management and combating illegal logging. For World Forest ID, Emily leads and coordinates projects and training for expedition leaders and collectors in North America, Asia and Europe and manages the day-to-day operations of World Forest ID.

Meaghan Parker Forney

SCIENCE ADVISOR, USA

As the World Resources Institute’s Science Officer for the Forest Legality Initiative, Meaghan brings her expertise in genetics as well as her partnerships with academic, government and private sector scientists to the World Forest ID consortium. Meaghan’s work focuses on supporting the development of species and origin reference databases for commercially traded timber species and building global laboratory capacity to employ wood identification tools.

Gael Bouka

Collector, Congo

Gael Bouka is currently assistant professor and permanent lecturer at Marien Ngouabi University in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo. He collaborates with World Forest ID collections in the Republic of Congo while pursuing his research and studies in Botanical Ecology with the University of Montpellier, France and at Marien Ngouabi University.

Herman Zanguim

Collector Cameroon

Herman currently studies at the Faculty of Agronomy and Agricultural Sciences of the University of Dschang in Cameroon pursuing a doctoral program in sustainable management of natural resources for the Congo Basin. He has participated in several timber sample collections for World Forest ID in Cameroon, Republic of Congo and Gabon and continues to support World Forest ID expeditions in Central Africa.

Wilson Tiubule

COLLECTOR, SOLOMON ISLANDS

Willie has spent his career working for Kolombangara Forest Products Ltd, an FSC-certified forest in the Solomon Islands. Willie is the Forestry Research Supervisor and is a native of Kolombangara Island. He leads World Forest ID field trials, sample collections and testing of sampling kits.