Our Team
AfriCat has a small team on the ground. Day to day our time is spent on data collection within the Okonjima Nature Reserve. However, we have a wide network of partners, collaborators and veterinarians with whom we carry out the research in the Reserve from conceptualization and research design to data analysis and publication.
Karen Codling – Director
Karen leads AfriCat’s focus and research coordination, oversees daily operations, and manages partnerships. She took over in 2022, was Board Secretary from 2015, and previously worked in public nutrition with UNICEF.
Sven Geider – Head of Field Operations
Sven manages AfriCat’s field operations, including camera traps, box traps, wildlife tags and collars. He oversees vehicles and equipment, supervises Jacob, Adam, Andries and Lucas, and helps process camera trap images.
Susanna Lewis de Amable – Data Manager and Analyst
Suze, a UK-born biological sciences graduate living in Peru, manages AfriCat’s data, databases, ID guides and reports. She coordinates camera trap processing, tracks research individuals, and visits Namibia yearly.
Jacob Mbango – Field Technician
Jacob joined Okonjima in 2008 and AfriCat in 2023. As a field wildlife monitor, he tracks research individuals daily and is our eyes and ears on the ground. He knows the Reserve intimately and connects deeply with its animals.
Lindsay Kennon – AfriCat America Administrator
Lindsay, based in Texas, administers AfriCat America and supports fundraising and donor relations. A veterinary technician and lifelong conservationist, she visits Namibia yearly and helps process camera trap images.
Anina Kruger - Operations Manager and Field Technician
Anina joined AfriCat in 2025 and manages the clinic, office and student house. She handles administration, communication, procurement and HR, supports vegetation assessment work and assists with field tasks when needed.
Andries Garab – Carnivore Care Centre Assistant and Field Technician
Andries is AfriCat’s longest-serving team member. He cares for carnivores in the Carnivore Care Centre and has a special bond with the lions, Cheetah and Leopard. His role now also includes wildlife monitoring in the Reserve.
Lucas Hisikia – Carnivore Care Centre Assistant and Field Technician
Lucas works with Andries to care for the carnivores in the Carnivore Care Centre and with Jacob on wildlife monitoring. If you see an AfriCat team member with a huge smile, that’s Lucas!
Adam Washinime – Field Technician
Adam joined AfriCat in mid-2025 after working with the Tsaobis Baboon Project and completing a Natural Resources degree at NUST. He maintains and services AfriCat’s camera trap system.
Heather Nependa – Researcher
Heather is completing her PhD in Conservation Ecology and Entomology at Stellenbosch University and works part-time on the prey component of AfriCat’s Pangolin Project, trapping and identifying ants and termites and following foraging pangolin.
The Extended AfriCat Team
Members of the “extended AfriCat team” also include all of the following, without whom the AfriCat work would not get done.
All the Okonjima guides – the Okonjima guides collect a significant proportion of AfriCat’s data and they are the main voice of AfriCat with Okonijma’s guests – passing on the information we collect to give guests the life history of the animals they are seeing in the Reserve
The Okonjima Park, Security and IT teams work closely with AfriCat ensuring the management of the Reserve and the wildlife in it. AfriCat and Park both use the EarthRanger platform to monitor assets and wildlife in the Reserve and the Park and IT teams maintain the LoRa system that collects the data for visualization on EarthRanger. The Security team ensures the safety of all the wildlife and humans in the Reserve and at the Lodges, but in particular the endangered species that live in the Reserve.
Donna Hanssen and Tyla Hoth manage the Okonjima website and social media, helping spread our message beyond the Reserve and Namibia.
AfriCat Board
Wayne Hansssen – Founder of AfriCat and Chairman of the Board
Donna Hanssen – Former Director of AfriCat and now Board Trustee
Tristan Boehme – Board Trustee
Karen Codling – Director of AfriCat and Board Trustee
Our Vets
Dr Ulf Tubbesing & Mariska Bijsterbosch from Wildlife Vets Namibia
Dr. Gernot Redecker from Animal Hospital Windhoek
Dr. HO Reuter from African Wildlife Services