Executive Team
Country Directors
Board of Trustees
Prof. Abubakar was the pioneer executive secretary of the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (2006–2016) and is currently a visiting professor at the University of Abuja. Previously, he has served internationally as: a member for the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research [CGIAR] ExCo & Fund/System Council representing sub-Saharan Africa (2008–2016); chairman of the governing board of the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (2010–2012); a member of the governing board of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (2010–2012); and an expert panel member on the Science Agenda for Agriculture in Africa (2013). Currently, he is an executive board member of the Technical Center for Agriculture and Rural Cooperation (2013–2018). He has Master’s and PhD degrees in Animal Breeding and Quantitative Genetics from Cornell University and has written over 160 publications.
Dr. Abdou Tenkouano is Executive Director of CORAF, the West and Central Africa Council for Agricultural Research and Development, based in Dakar, Senegal. His academic background is in plant breeding and genetics and he has a PhD from the Texas A&M University.
He has worked across sub-Saharan Africa with the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT, 1994–1996, Mali), the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA, 1996–2008, Nigeria, Cameroon and Ghana) and The World Vegetable Center (AVRDC, 2008–2016, Tanzania and Mali). Dr. Tenkouano also served as a member of the research for development council at IITA, and as deputy chair of the institutional research and development committee and a member of the institutional management committee at AVRDC.
Gareth Johnstone is the Director General for WorldFish. He holds a bachelor’s degree in zoology from Sheffield University, a master’s degree in environmental economics from London School of Economics and Political Science and a PhD from King’s College London on rights-based management. He is a member of the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) and the International Association for the Study of the Commons (IASC).
A UK national, Gareth is a geographer with 25 years of professional experience in natural resource management and research, with an emphasis on governance issues, policy development, capacity building and institutional development. He is an advocate for cross-disciplinary and participatory research approaches in environment and development, and he specializes in integrated coastal management, ecosystem approaches to fisheries, sustainable livelihoods, food security and co-management, particularly within small-scale fisheries and aquaculture.
Gareth has undertaken numerous assignments in Africa (Sudan, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia, Namibia) Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Cambodia, Myanmar, Malaysia, Thailand), the Pacific (Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea) and Australia. He joined WorldFish in 2011 as a scientist and went on to lead the CGIAR Research Program in Cambodia on Aquatic Agricultural Systems (AAS) and develop the Myanmar Country Program.
Michael Phillips is Director of Aquaculture and Fisheries Science at WorldFish. Recognized as a global leader in aquaculture research, Michael joined WorldFish in 2008 where he has since developed a wide portfolio of research on sustainable aquaculture. Previously, he served as Program Manager at the Network of Aquaculture Centers in Asia-Pacific (NACA) where he managed the organizations’ aquaculture research and development programs. Michael holds a Ph.D. in Aquaculture and Fish Behavior from the University of Stirling and a B.S. in Biological Sciences from University of Lancaster.
Languages: English, French, Thai
Location: Malaysia
Contact: m.phillips@cgiar.org
Tana Lala-Pritchard joined WorldFish in September 2018 as the Director of Communications and Marketing. She leads the development and implementation of the Centre’s global Communications and Marketing Strategy to consistently articulate and promote WorldFish's mission to strengthen livelihoods and enhance food and nutrition security through scientific research for improved fisheries and aquaculture.
Prior to joining WorldFish, she led the implementation of global Communications, Engagement and Knowledge Management for the $52 million CGIAR Research Program on Dryland Systems. She also worked with a team of senior peers to develop the new 2017-2022 organizational and research strategy for the International Centre of Agricultural Research on the Dry Areas (ICARDA). Her work to engender greater political, research and financial commitment to the global issues of desertification, land degradation and climate change was to facilitate improved science-policy dialogue by leading the advocacy and strategic campaigning efforts of the global Economics of Land Degradation Initiative. In 2015, Tana successfully led her teams’ global advocacy effort to raise awareness of the international community and influence the adoption of specific evidence-based targets on Climate Action (SDG13) and Land Degradation Neutrality (SDG15.3) by the UN General Assembly under the framework of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Working across the public, private and non-profit sectors across South East Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia and the Pacific, Tana has amassed over 16 years of experience in strategic communication planning and results-based management, advocacy and fundraising, marketing and corporate communications, press and public relations, organizational learning and knowledge sharing through varied communication roles with development agencies and international organizations, such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the European Commission, the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office and its Department for International Development (DFID), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Terre des Hommes International, etc.
In her various roles, Tana has built project and organizational capacities, and developed strategies for articulating complex technical knowledge into tailored messages and targeted communications to effectively connect with diverse audiences and stakeholders at local, regional, and international levels. She has successfully mobilized donor and public support, and implemented numerous global and regional campaigns on salient and diverse development issues such as climate change, land degradation, migration, youth employment, women’s economic and political empowerment, sustainable economic growth, child protection, and so forth.
She holds a MSc degree in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science in the UK and a BA degree in Political Science and Economics from East Central University in the USA. A native Albanian, she also speaks English, Italian, French and intermediate Arabic.
Languages: English, Italian, Albanian, French and intermediate Arabic
Location: Malaysia
Contact: T.Lala-Pritchard@cgiar.org
Prof. Dr. Ayman Ammar is the director of the Central Laboratory for Aquaculture Research (CLAR). He holds a master’s degree and a PhD from the Moscow Agricultural Academy in aquaculture (1994). With more than 30 years of experience, Ayman has extensive knowledge of aquaculture. He recently became a member of the Ministry of Agriculture Commute for the development of Egyptian lakes and previously had been an expert for an EU-funded project to monitor and evaluate in Egypt for promoting sustainable development in aquaculture. Before becoming director of CLAR, Ayman worked as a consultant for many private sector firms and several government projects.
Dr. Cristina Rumbaitis del Rio is an independent consultant working primarily for the Global Commission on Adaptation where she serves as an Action Track Co-Manager leading the development of several action tracks related to action on adaptation including food security and agriculture. Previously, she was the Regional Program Manager for Action on Climate Today, a DFID-funded project helping to mainstream climate change resilience measures within budgetary planning and policymaking across South Asia. Her previous positions include Senior Associate Director at The Rockefeller Foundation in New York, where she developed the execution strategy for an eight-year, USD 100 million initiative to build resilience for poor and vulnerable people who will be affected by climate change.
Cristina has a doctoral degree in ecology from the University of Colorado. She was a Mass Media Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement Science and blogs and tweets regularly on resilience, climate change, smart urbanization, equity, impact investing and other issues.
Montgomery (Monty) Simus is the newly appointed Executive Director of Business Development and Partnerships for WorldFish. He is a global executive who spent much of the past two decades focused on the deployment of catalytic philanthropy, innovative social finance, and equity investment capital to high-growth, purpose-driven enterprises that serve millions of stakeholders in emerging markets worldwide. Monty is passionate about impact philanthropy in the fields of the environment, health, education, and enabling infrastructure, and has developed his inclusive business-driven emerging market development experience in more than 100 nations around the world. A graduate of Yale and Harvard, he served as a Senior Advanced Leadership Initiative Fellow at Harvard from 2015 – 2017 focusing on research related to the water-energy-food nexus, and is a frequent writer and speaker on issues of freshwater scarcity, the linkages between water and energy, and emerging markets.
Michael Akester joined WorldFish in February 2017 as the WorldFish Country Director for Myanmar. Michael is a bio-geographer from Cambridge, England, with over 35 years’ experience in fisheries sector development programmes worldwide. Before joining WorldFish, Michael was the Regional Project Coordinator on the Global Environment Facility (GEF) co-funded Humboldt Current Large Marine Ecosystem project based in Lima with work in Peru and Chile. He has also worked for organizations such as the United Nations, Danish International Development Assistance (Danida) and the UK Department for International Development. Michael has experience working in many countries including Bangladesh, Viet Nam, Chile, Peru and Mexico.
Languages: English, Spanish
Location: Myanmar
Contact: M.Akester at cgiar.org
Marion Barriskell joined WorldFish in September 2019, as the global Finance and IT Director. Marion has over 20 years progressive experience in Finance were she has worked in various countries, industries and sectors. Over the last eight years, she has held a number of senior leadership roles at KPMG, Transparency International and the British Council. In each case, she has delivered transformational change, improving the organisations’ control environment. At WorldFish, Marion has responsibilities over the strategic and operational Finance and IT. She leads on the digitisation of the organisation as well as enhancing the control environment and improving efficiencies. This is to maximise the resources available for strengthening livelihoods and supporting in the delivery of World Fish’s mission.
Marion holds an accountancy degree from the University of Dundee, is fellow qualified chartered accountant and is an accredited counter fraud specialist.
Delvene Boso is Country Manager, Solomon Islands. She joined WorldFish in May 2007 as a Research Analyst. In this role, she assisted WorldFish scientists in developing and conducting socioeconomic surveys and contributes to publications on community-based resource management. As Country Manager, she provides leadership for staff in three offices, maintains partnerships with national institutional stakeholders and coordinates country-based project development efforts. She holds a B.S. in Marine Science and Management from Southern Cross University.
Languages: English, Solomon Islands Pidgin
Location: Solomon Islands
Contact: d.boso at cgiar.org
Gareth Johnstone is the newly appointed Director General for WorldFish. He holds a bachelor’s degree in zoology from Sheffield University, a master’s degree in environmental economics from London School of Economics and Political Science and a PhD from King’s College London on rights-based management. He is a member of the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) and the International Association for the Study of the Commons (IASC).
A UK national, Gareth is a geographer with 25 years of professional experience in natural resource management and research, with an emphasis on governance issues, policy development, capacity building and institutional development. He is an advocate for cross-disciplinary and participatory research approaches in environment and development, and he specializes in integrated coastal management, ecosystem approaches to fisheries, sustainable livelihoods, food security and co-management, particularly within small-scale fisheries and aquaculture.
Gareth has undertaken numerous assignments in Africa (Sudan, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia, Namibia) Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Cambodia, Myanmar, Malaysia, Thailand), the Pacific (Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea) and Australia. He joined WorldFish in 2011 as a scientist and went on to lead the CGIAR Research Program in Cambodia on Aquatic Agricultural Systems (AAS) and develop the Myanmar Country Program.
Christopher Price is country director for WorldFish in Bangladesh. He is responsible for liaising with key government and donor counterparts in the country and overseeing the WorldFish research portfolio in Bangladesh. Christopher’s international development career began over 35 years ago with the UK Department for International Development, formerly known as the Overseas Development Administration (ODA).
Christopher has worked in several countries, directing or managing large and complex donor-funded projects. Before joining WorldFish, he served as the Head of the Bangladesh Aquaculture and Fisheries Resource Unit in ODA and was instrumental in developing, together with the Government of Bangladesh and NGOs, an overall strategy for fisheries programming across the country.
Contact: c.price at cgiar.org
Dr. Victor Siamudaala is WorldFish’s country director for Zambia and Southern Africa. He is in charge of overseeing key strategic government and donor relationships in Zambia and the Southern Africa region.
Victor is an experienced leader in environmental and sustainability policy. Over the past 23 years he has led several environmental efforts in the public sector as well as international organizations.
Prior to joining WorldFish, Victor served as country director for The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in Zambia. He worked initially as program manager and later as the executive director for the Secretariat of the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA) in Botswana.
Victor comes with substantial experience in research and has previously held the position of Director for Research, Planning and Information with Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA).
