In 2024, Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance (DZCA) was honored to announce the recipients of the 2023 DZCA Women in Conservation Fund and Indigenous Bighorn Fellowship.
The Women in Conservation Fund provides support to women working in the field of conservation and who are creating solutions that benefit both wildlife and communities. Each received $5,000 that they can apply to supporting their work including: professional support, network building, learning exchanges, visibility and community building. DZCA’s Indigenous Bighorn Fellowship, a multi-entity collaboration, aims to break down educational and vocational barriers for Native conservationists.
We are humbled to not only be able to support the work of these extraordinary women, but to be able to learn from their expertise and knowledge. We also recognize that together, their collective impact on biodiversity benefits all of us.
Read on to learn more about these women and be sure to stay tuned as we share their stories.
Chantira Saifimar (Indonesia)
With a background in Environmental Geography, and a team member at the Batum Serendit Philosophy Center, Chantira’s work focuses on protecting sea turtle habitat. With increase pressures facing these turtles and their habitat, Chantira’s increasing her efforts to focus on stronger relationships and partnerships with local communities to collectively seek sustainable solutions to protecting these species through education and workshops.
Nesha Inchida (Indonesia)
Nesha Ichida is a marine conservation scientist working as a program manager for an Indonesian NGO called Thrive Conservation. Ichida has been primarily focused on shark and ray research and conservation, marine protected area management, and community-based conservation initiatives in eastern Indonesia. She is also Co-founder and advisor to a youth-driven NGO focusing on marine debris issues called Divers Clean Action.
Alia Firdamayanti (Indonesia)
Alia is a forestry engineer with a primary focus on preserving the key tree species in the lowland tropical forests. She is also focused on protecting the Dugong dugon, a marine mammal in the same family as manatees. Alia’s goal is to fill research gaps related to the Dugong dugon and its mangrove habitat in order to develop long term strategies for its survival.
Fanny Cornejo (Peru)
Fanny is a Peruvian biologist and anthropologist working to save and protect Peru’s Yellow Tailed Monkey. She is Director of Yunkawasi, an organization focused on sustainable development and biodiversity conservation. Fanny was also a recipient of the Emerging Conservation Award from the Indianapolis Prize.
Alifi Nisya (Indonesia)
Alifi is a Project Leader for Forum Konservasi Leuser, an Indonesia based NGO that focuses on the conservation of the Leuser Ecosystem in Aceh Province. Through this work, Alifi has also channeled her passion and efforts towards the Asian Elephant and seeking innovative solutions to mitigating human elephant conflict in East Leuser by creating early warning system through the use ofbioacoustics.
Rahayu Oktaviani (Indonesia)
Rahayu is a conservationist that has been focusing her work onresearching the behavior and ecology of the wild Javan gibbons in the Citalahab Forest, Gunung Halimun Salak National Park, West Java, Indonesia. To make the research accessible beyond the circles of scientists, she started translating her work into language that is easily understood by the general public through conservation education initiatives. These efforts led her to start her own local conservation NGO called KIARA, which is committed to integrating human dimensions into conservation efforts through a holistic approachof scientific research, education, and community engagement.
Jamie Begay (Indigenous Bighorn Fellowship)
While Jamie is not a receipt of the 2023 Women in Conservation Fund, she is the inaugural fellow of the Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance Indigenous Bighorn Fellowship. Jamie Begay is a former field technician for the Navajo Nation Department of Fish and Wildlife (NNDFW) and an alumna of Diné College, the first tribally controlled and accredited institution of higher education in the United States. Jamie is currently pursuing graduate studies at Colorado State University where she is researching disease transmission from domestic sheep to bighorn sheep. Through her work, Jamie is reshaping Native conservation and emerging as a powerful leader, particularly for Native women in the field
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