Advisory Board

Project R&R is a tall order. Ambitious and optimistic, it requires tenacity. It will push us to the limits of our expertise and then require more. Project R&R demands that once we grab on, we not let go until we prevail. It needs everyone who cares about chimpanzees to put their shoulder to the task and push.

–Theodora Capaldo, EdD, NEAVS President

Project R&R is honored to have the following individuals as members of its Advisory Board:

Carole Noon, PhD – In Memoriam

Founder and director of Save the Chimps, the largest chimpanzee sanctuary in the world, Dr. Noon was a biological anthropologist who worked with chimpanzees since 1984 and was a leading expert in chimpanzee re-socialization. Dr. Noon served on the Steering Committee of Save the Chimps’ sister sanctuary, the Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Kenya. Save the Chimps is currently providing a sanctuary home for more than 250 chimpanzees, the majority of whom are from research. Sadly, Dr. Noon died on May 2, 2009. Her legacy continues and her wisdom inspires Project R&R’s work.

Jane Goodall, PhD

Founder of the Gombe Stream Research Centre in Tanzania and director of the Jane Goodall Institute, Dr. Goodall has received honorary degrees from 30 major colleges and universities and has been awarded 87 times—including being named a Dame of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II. She has held 54 professional affiliations and six academic appointments, has published 26 books (including the renowned In the Shadow of Man, published in 48 languages). She is the renowned worldwide chimpanzee expert.

Gloria Grow

Founder and director of the Fauna Foundation—a sanctuary for rescued animals including wildlife, farmed animals, horses, and companion animals. Fauna is the first and only Canadian sanctuary for chimpanzees. Fauna welcomed 15 chimpanzees from the now defunct Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery in Primates (LEMSIP) and established itself as the first sanctuary to accept HIV-infected chimpanzees. Four additional chimpanzees, three with research histories, were later rescued. Fauna is also home to a natural reserve to conserve indigenous fauna and flora. Ms. Grow is Honorary Co-Chair of Project R&R and tours with Project R&R to educate and enlighten audiences about the plight and recovery of chimpanzees from laboratories.

Roger S. Fouts, PhD and Deborah H. Fouts, MS

Dr. Fouts is co-founder and former co-director of the Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute (CHCI), and a professor emeritus of psychology at Central Washington University (CWU). Ms. Fouts is co-founder and former co-director of CHCI, and retired assistant professor of psychology (research) at CWU. Both are on the Friends of Washoe (FOW) board.

The Foutses have published more than 100 articles in scientific journals and books, and have been awarded six times for recognition of their outstanding work in animal protection. In 1981, they co-founded Friends of Washoe (FOW), a nonprofit organization dedicated to the welfare of chimpanzees.

Sen. Bob Smith

A former member of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate (12 years), Sen. Smith was one of three co-sponsors of the CHIMP Act that originally called for permanent retirement for chimpanzees not needed in research. Now retired, Sen. Smith continues his dedication to the release and restitution of chimpanzees. He remains active in animal protection and conservation, and was president of the Everglades Foundation.

Patti Ragan

Founder and director of the Center for Great Apes (CGA), a sanctuary for orangutans and chimpanzees previously used in entertainment and/or research. A former teacher and businesswoman, Ms. Ragan traveled to Borneo on Earthwatch Institute expeditions to study orangutans. She soon after committed to ending their use in entertainment and went on to establish the CGA foundation and sanctuary in Florida. She is considered one of the few experts on chimpanzees and other great apes in U.S. entertainment.

Shirley McGreal, EdD

Founder of the International Primate Protection League (IPPL) in 1973 in Thailand (now based in South Carolina), Dr. McGreal runs IPPL’s sanctuary for gibbons, many of whom are retired from research. IPPL seeks to protect primates in the wild, supports primate rescue centers worldwide, and works to stop the illegal smuggling of primates, including into research. IPPL is a seat of world efforts for primate protection.

Jennifer Feuerstein

Former laboratory caregiver for chimpanzees at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center and founding member of the Laboratory Primate Advocacy Group, Ms. Feuerstein is sanctuary director at Save the Chimps sanctuary at its New Mexico location, the former Coulston Foundation laboratory facility.

April Truitt

Founder and director of the Primate Rescue Center (PRC), a sanctuary for chimpanzees and monkeys in Kentucky, Ms. Truitt provides a safe haven for primates cast off from the exotic animal trade, biomedical research, and the entertainment industry. Some of the young chimpanzees from LEMSIP were rescued by PRC.

Michele L. Stumpe, Esq.

Michele L. Stumpe, Esq. is an attorney and legal consultant. She has served as legal consultant to Gorilla Haven, the only gorilla sanctuary in the USA, and is on its board of trustees. She has served as acting president of the international nonprofit Great Ape Project, and currently serves on its Legal Advisory Board and is a board member. She has also volunteered at other sanctuaries for great apes in Africa and the U.S.

Sheri Speede, DVM

Sheri Speede, DVM is the founder of the Sanaga-Yong Chimpanzee Rescue Center in Cameroon and IDA-Africa. In 1997, Dr. Speede began working with great apes in Africa, and in 1999, she founded the center for chimpanzees orphaned by the illegal bushmeat trade. The center provides a permanent forest home to more than 50 chimpanzees ranging in age from less than one year to over 40 years old.

Michael Seres

A chimpanzee management consultant with 40 years of experience in primate care, Mr. Seres has successfully re-socialized chimpanzee groups in Europe, Canada, Liberia, and the U.S., and is now a Great Ape Behavioral Consultant at the Kumamoto Sanctuary in Japan. He was head keeper of the primate section of the Budapest Zoo, and has held various positions at the Toronto Zoo, Yerkes Field Station, the AAP Sanctuary for Exotic Animals, and the Max-Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. He is a member of the International Primatological Society (IPS), the American Society of Primatologists (ASP), and the American Behavior Society, and is an advisory board member for Fauna Foundation. An author of or contributor to some 50 papers, presentations, articles, and reviews, Mr. Seres is also a videographer and photographer who generously shares his stunning chimpanzee photographs with Project R&R.

Marjorie Cramer, MD, FACS

A past vice-president of the New England Anti-Vivisection Society, Dr. Cramer has also served as a board member of the Medical Research Modernization Committee, as an advisory board member of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, and as a member of the Committee of Legal Issues Pertaining to Animals of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. Dr. Cramer, who grew up in England, conducted vivisection in college, medical school, and her surgery residency in the U.S., but in time was educated by her children about animal abuse and for the past 25 years, has worked to end the use of animals in research and education. A board-certified plastic surgeon, she practiced plastic surgery in Manhattan for 23 years.

Nancy Megna

An animal advocate and caregiver with over 22 years of experience working directly with animals and various nonprofit animal protection organizations, including NEAVS, Ms. Megna gained firsthand knowledge caring for and studying primates at New York University’s Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery in Primates (LEMSIP) and Yerkes National Primate Research Center. This work compelled her to become a founding member of the Laboratory Primate Advocacy Group (LPAG). She has studied primates in labs, zoos, and Africa. Having seen the “horrors of labs and the miracles of sanctuary,” Ms. Megna is committed to ending the use of animals in research. In addition to her work on behalf of animals, she now works in behavioral health with individuals suffering from PTSD and other diagnosis.

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