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Board of Directors
Board of Directors
Dr. R.E. Hecky
Professor Emeritus
University of Minnesota-Duluth
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Dr. Hecky has a wide range of experience representative of his long standing research interests in the biogeochemistry and productivity of freshwaters around the world. From 1998 to 2007 Dr. Hecky was a Professor at the University of Waterloo in Canada as United Nations University Research Chair for the African Great Lakes. He was also the McKnight Endowed Presidential Professor in Lake Ecology at the Large Lakes Observatory and Biology Department of the University of Minnesota at Duluth, and a research scientist in the Canadian Government with at Environment Canada as well as Fisheries and Oceans Canada. He has received the G.E. Hutchinson Medal from the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography and the Rigler award from the Society of Canadian Limnologists.
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In 2008, Dr. Hecky was inducted into the Royal Society of Canada. He has served on the editorial boards of several international journals and has authored and co-authored more than 195 scientific publications. In 2012 he became editor in chief for the Journal of Great Lakes Research. From 2014 and continuing he has served on the Science Advisory Board of the International Joint Commission. He has also been a Canadian Commissioner of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission since 2004.
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Dr. Hecky is one of the original founders of ACARE.
Bob Hecky
Dr. Oliva Mkumbo
Deputy Executive Secretary
Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization
Jinja, Uganda
Dr. Mkumbo has a long and distinguished career as a researcher on Lake Victoria. She earned a BSc (Hon) in Marine Biology and Zoology and a MSC in Biology from the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and a PhD in Fisheries from the University of Hull, UK. Her career began in 1982 when she joined the Tanzania Fisheries Research Institute (TAFIRI) in Mwanza, Tanzania. In 2004, Dr. Mkumbo became the Fisheries Research Senior Scientist at the Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization (LVFO), the specialized institute of the East African
Community with the mandate to coordinate the management of the fisheries resources of Lake Victoria for sustainable development and utilization, and to spearhead aquaculture development in the Basin. In August of 2013, Dr. Mkumbo became the LVFO's Deputy Executive Director.
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Mr. Kevin O. Obiero
Centre Director
Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute
Sagana, Kenya
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Mr. Obiero earned his M.Sc. in Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences from Moi University, Kenya. He is currently pursuing his PhD studies at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) in Austria, within the framework of the STRECAFISH project aimed at building capacity in higher education and research institutions towards improved response of education to the fast moving aquaculture and fisheries industry in Eastern Africa.
Kevin has a distinguished career as a researcher on Lakes Victoria and Turkana. Throughout his academic training and over 10 years working experience, he has participated in several international research projects. Within these multidisciplinary research programmes, he has authored and co-authored more than 20 scientific publications. In September 2016, Mr Obiero was appointed KMFRI Sagana Centre Director. On a part-time and voluntary basis, he teaches and supervises Diploma and undergraduate student’s courses and facilitates learning in leadership development and project management.
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Kevin Obiero
ACARE Team
Jess Ives
Co-founder, Treasurer
Lake Erie Millennium Network Coordinator at the University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario.
Ben Flavin
Co-founder, Legal Counsel
Finder Novick Kerrigan LLP
New York, NY
Michèle Laduc-Lapierre
Co-founder, IT Advisor
ACARE Team
Ted Lawrence
Ted Lawrence
Co-founder, Executive Director
Ted earned his Ph.D. at the School for Environment and Sustainability*, University of Michigan. His research focused on governance and management of freshwater fishery resources, formal rules, and institutions. His work focused specifically at the community-level governance of co-management fishery institutions that were established on Lake Victoria, East Africa.
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Ted is also the Communications and Policy Specialist at the Great Lakes Fishery Commission (GLFC), the bi-national, U.S./Canadian organization that coordinates fisheries research, controls the invasive sea lamprey, and facilitates cooperative fishery management among the state, provincial, tribal, and federal management agencies. The GLFC is a supporter and formal partner of ACARE.
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Ted is one of the co-founders of ACARE and serves as its Executive Director.
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*Formerly the School of Natural Resources and Environment (SNRE).
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