Gerry Ellis

Founder & Executive Director 

Gerry’s filming project in 2001, Wild Orphans, inspired the founding of GLOBIO. GLOBIO is a global awareness nonprofit that creates environmental films and provides visual support to wildlife conservation organizations around the world, and tells their stories globally, while educating the public about our shared environmental challenges. GLOBIO’s mission is to inspire a positive relationship with our environment by connecting species, people and planet.

Under Gerry’s leadership, GLOBIO works with international partners in four critical Focal Regions, across Equatorial Africa and Borneo/Sumatra. GLOBIO focuses on great apes and their habitat to create innovative, locally-driven education solutions to foster conservation and environmental awareness and understanding.

Gerry’s award-winning career as an international wildlife film-maker, photographer, and writer spans three-decades and features work appearing in National Geographic, BBC Wildlife, the New York Times, Ranger Rick, and more. He is the author and/or photographer of more than a dozen books, including two in the highly acclaimed National Geographic Kids Book series.

His current work is featured on the GLOBIO YouTube channel  Apes Like Us. He is host of the Talking Apes podcast. 

Our Team

Communication & Media Manager – Demelza Bond

Born and raised in the UK, and now living in Spain, Demelza has deep lifelong passion for primates and engaging the public to better understand their plight. After receiving a journalism degree at The University of Salford, she volunteered at primate sanctuaries in South Africa, India, Costa Rica and Spain — cultivating real-world, primate experiences and working in communications for international NGOs for a decade before joining GLOBIO. We are excited to have her international perspective and media background to oversee our communications and outreach efforts.

Starting Season 2, September 2022, Demelza is doubling her role at GLOBIO becoming Assistant Producer of the Talking Apes podcast.

Outreach Education Researcher – Maegan Leavendusky

Maegan is in graduate school at Miami University with Project Dragonfly. She has traveled to Belize and Borneo studying non-human primates and great apes as well as digging into the critical world of community-based conservation practices. Maegan’s growing role at GLOBIO is to help define our awareness and outreach approaches and programs, both nationally in the USA and internationally.

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Our Board of Directors

Chair of the Board – Douglas Gastich

Doug is a technology leader with over 20 years of experience building online education experiences. He believes deeply in the power of story, combined with novel interaction, to engage and inspire.

Board Treasurer –Todd Trzcinski

Todd is a native of Seattle with a degree from Whitman College and graduate studies in accounting at the University of Washington. He is a licensed CPA and served in several companies, both large corporations and startups, in particular focusing on the high tech service sector. In addition to the Pacific Northwest, he has lived and worked both in Europe and Rwanda and is an avid cyclist and traveler. Todd is currently a resident of New York City, and is consulting to US-based companies doing work in East Africa.

Board Member – Colburn Shindell

Colburn is a former secondary school educator and head of school who now focuses his teaching on adult literacy. An avid traveler and passionate conservationist, he spent 2017-2018 traveling through Africa learning first-hand the challenges facing wildlife. His experience fund-raising and leading non-profits complement his dedication to and love of wildlife. He and his family live in Reno, Nevada.