| Who We Are Past Accomplishments Present Accomplishments Why We Can Make a Difference |
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STEWART METZ, MD - Director of Indonesian Parrot Project
He left the medical profession of in 2001 out of a deep concern about the threat of extinction of some of the planet's most magnificent birds (especially the cockatoos of Indonesia), as well as the mistreatment of many of these creatures when sold into captivity. Stewart is a frequent contributor to Companion Parrot Quarterly, PsittaScene, PARROTS Magazine and LaJoie. BONNIE ZIMMERMANN - Vice President of IPP
Prior to moving to the Bay area, she spent eighteen years as a media and event producer in Los Angeles, producing commercials, television programs, and philanthropic events around the world. She is strongly committed to educating the public about conservation, protection of wild parrots, and rescue and rehabilitation of companion parrots through all forms of media and hopes to encourage the collaboration of knowledge between scientists, zoos, conservationists and aviculture. Bonnie produced Project Bird Watch’s DVD “The People of Parrots of WILD Indonesia” and is presently editing their newest project “Return to Freedom.” She is also developing a series of documentaries about parrots. BARBARA BAILEY - Secretary of IPP
Mandy Andrea
DONALD BRIGHTSMITH, PhD Research Advisor
He moved to the University of Arizona and received a Master’s degree in Wildlife Ecology. He was influenced by the book New World Parrots in Crisis, which stated that over 30% of New World psittacines were threatened and that few biologists were working with this group. That same year he participated in a field course in Costa Rica, where he was deeply moved by seeing wild scarlet macaws in flight. This series of events convinced him to dedicate his career to the study and conservation of parrots, and bridging the gap between aviculturists and scientists. He studied tropical ecology and conservation, receiving his Ph.D. under John Terborgh at Duke University and then headed off to the jungles of Latin America to teach tropical ecology for the Organization for Tropical Studies in Costa Rica and run the Tambopata Macaw Project in Peru. His research has included projects on Northern Goshawks in the Arizona, escaped parrots in Miami, macaw reintroduction in Costa Rica and Peru, and collaborative efforts on parrot communities in Costa Rica. In addition, his work as director of the Tambopata Macaw Project has produced data on a wide variety of topics including: nesting of Scarlet, Blue-and-yellow, and Red-and-green Macaws, Scarlet Macaw chick growth, nest box use by Scarlet Macaws, parrot diets, nutritional contents of Scarlet Macaw chick foods, why birds eat soil, tourism impacts on psittacines, food availability, seasonal fluctuations in parrot abundance, among others.He is a world-renowned and well-published expert on the ecology of parrots in the wild. In July 2006, he took a position at the Shubot Exotic Bird Health Center in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Texas A&M University to continue his parrot research activities. Leonardo Sahuburua Hendrik J. Maruanaya As a result of the social conflict occurring in Maluku in 1999, he lost his job and applied at the English Department from which he graduated and works as an English Lecturer. In 2004 he received his Master degree in TESOL at Deakin University in Australia. Advisors to Project Bird Watch: MONICA ENGEBRETSON is a Senior Program Coordinator at the Animal Protection Institute and works on a variety of issues including, Captive Birds, Wildlife, and Vegetarianism. As part of her on captive birds, Monica helped to make California the first state to prohibit the sale of unweaned birds in pet shops and retail markets and hopes to pass similar legislation in other states in the coming years. Monica has also produced educational materials including a 16min video "Wild at Heart" on the plight of exotic birds in the wild and in captivity. Monica has had a lifelong commitment to conservation and animal welfare and holds a B.S. degree in Wildlife with a minor in Environmental Ethics. She is also a board member of the Avian Welfare Coalition. Monica traveled to Indonesia in 2001 and again in 2003 with the Indonesian Parrot Project/Project Bird Watch. . KRIS TINDIGE is an experienced birding-and tour-guide of 11-yrs. He helped to guide David Attenborough in order to find and film Birds of Paradise for Attenborough's acclaimed documentary The Life of Birds. Kris was heavily involved in conservation efforts in West Papua through Yayasan Papua Bird Club ("The Papua Bird Club Foundation"), a nongovernmental organization.He was guide for IPP eco-tours in West Papua. Tragically, Kris recently died of cancer. His roles in conservation—and dedication to the dignity and rights of the Papuan people—are now being led by his widow Shita Prativi. JOAN AND GERRY TILKE are artistic designers and consultants. Joan is an experienced artisan, and received on- site training in batik in Indonesia. She created (and donated to IPP) the original batiks used for our Seram t- shirts, greeting cards, and posters. She has just finished original artwork depicting the citron-crested cockatoo, palm cockatoos and a Wilson’s Bird of Paradise for our new line of Sumba and West Papua t-shirts. (See our Store for examples of all of these.) Gerry has converted these magnificent artistic donations into saleable items by overseeing and consulting during the remarkably complicated and subtle screen-making and color-combining process. Joan and Gerry share their home with Sammy (a Seram cockatoo; see "Photos"). COLLABORATORS:PUSAT PENYELAMATAN SATWA (PPS)
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Stewart Metz has been a physician for 32 years, having served in capacities as a clinician, biomedical researcher, administrator, and teacher. He trained at Yale University (from which he graduated summa cum laude and Scholar of the House) and Yale Medical School, and was tenured Professor of Medicine at two major universities. He was Chief of the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, and Head of the Diabetes Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is author or co-author of over 120 scientific publications, and uses his biomedical background to enhance both the Medical Initiative of the Seram Program, as well as the disease and laboratory testing aspects of the Wild Parrot Re-Release program.
Founder of The Wild Connection, and Vice President of Project Bird Watch, Bonnie Zimmermann has been involved with the parrot world for twenty years. Like many people in the avian world, she started as a “pet owner” but gradually evolved to where she is today, working to promote education, rescue, rehabilitation and enrichment for parrots in captivity and developing programs to protect and study endangered parrots in their natural environment. Her passion and quest for knowledge about parrots led her to work at the California Exotics Clinic in Simi Valley, California as an avian vet technician, volunteer for the LA Zoo California Condor team, and work with indigenous American birds, as a vet tech for the Wildlife Waystation. To date she has worked in Central and South America, and Eastern Indonesia. She lectures at bird clubs, conservation organizations, schools and universities, and has written articles for Bird Talk, Companion Bird Quarterly, American Federation of Aviculture, and the Journal for the American Society of Aviculture.
Barbara Bailey has been living with birds since she got her first budgie at age 10. It wasn't until 1985, during a trip to Australia, that her fascination with cockatoos began. She started breeding cockatoos in 1995 and found it to be very rewarding-and difficult and frustrating! Barbara also became aware of the growing number of unwanted and mistreated parrots at about the same time and stopped breeding after six years to devote herself to parrot welfare. In 1998, she and two friends founded Tucson Avian Rescue & Adoption Foundation (TARA), a 501(c)(3) organization. TARA has taken in over 500 birds and recently opened its own avian veterinary clinic, TARA Bird Clinic. This clinic also seeks to educate people about birds and Barbara has received training as a vet tech to assist at their busy clinic. Barbara also developed an interest in the protection of wild cockatoos in their native habitat and joined Project Bird Watch. She has visited Indonesia numerous times and has come to love the people as well as the birds. After a 27-year career in speech pathology, Barbara retired in 2002 in order to work with birds full-time. She is a regular contributor to the Companion Parrot Quarterly and a popular lecturer.
Mandy lived in Southeast Asia for fifteen years and has great fondness for the region’s diversity of peoples, cultures, and wildlife. Her interest in parrots and their behavior began in 1998 with her pet African Grey. A strong advocate of allowing companion birds to exercise their flying abilities, she fledged her bird and taught it to fly. She now has two African Grey parrots which can fly indoors as well as outdoors after much careful training,. She enjoys photographing them and all wildlife in natural settings, and some of her photos have appeared in BirdTalk, Parrots Magazine, and PsittaScene.
Dr. Brightsmith has had a great interest in wild birds all his lifeBird watching as a kid growing up in New York Bird watching as a child cemented his interest and encouraged him to pursue a degree in Natural Resource Management at Cornell University. A year of study at Oxford exposed him to some of the best minds in biology. 
Leonardo Sahuburua was born in Ambon but spend his school years in Masohi, on Seram Island. He used to be a freelance guide who explored Seram Island between 1992-1999. While guiding guests, he was often asked to help photographing scenery and documenting the eco-tour track. Since that time, his passion for nature photography has grown. He met one of the most famous photographers on the island and was asked to become his assistant. After the sectarian violence destroyed his house in Maluku, he moved to Bali to study Media Development including Photography, Graphic design, Video Documenting and Web Design. He has been an instructor at Arpa Technology Computer School for 2 years. In 2005, Leonardo Media Development for the Third World at a course in Maui. He has carried out several video-cinematography projects for the Indonesian Parrot Project.
Dudi Nandika received his S.Si. Degree (the equivalent of our Bachelor of Science degree) in 2005 from the Biology Department, Faculty of Mathematic and Natural Science, As-Syafi'iyah Islamic University, Jakarta, Indonesia. There, he was Head of the Association of Biology Students, and Coordinator of Education and Training of the Observor Bird Club. Dudi has a particular interest in bird-watching, and in parrots and cockatoos. He carried out a field study of a subpopulation of the extremely endangered sulphurea subspecies of Lesser Sulphur-crested cockatoos, which resulted in a publication in PsittaScene (the journal of the World Parrot Trust):
Dwi Agustina received her S,Si. Degree (the equivalent of our Bachelor of Science degree) in 2005 from the Biology Department, Faculty of Mathematic and Natural Science, As-Syafi'iyah Islamic University, Jakarta, Indonesia. There she received the award as the Best Student III in 2006. She has carried out research in primate behavior and water bird monitoring.
