Chair for the GISP Board…

Dennis Rangi of CABI, was elected Chairperson of the Board of the Global Invasive Species Programme at the GISP Board Meeting on 13th October 2005. At the GISP Board Meeting on 1st November 2007, Dennis was unanimously re-elected as Chairperson of the GISP Executive Board for another term.

Dennis is a development expert with a wealth of experience spanning more than 20 years on issues of international development and management of science. An entomologist by training, Dennis was born in Kenya and attended universities in Kenya and India. He also has a strong background in strategy formulation and enterprise development. Early in his career, he had an opportunity of implementing and conducting training on a number of projects on invasive species at the field level in Africa.

Dennis is Executive Director (International Development) CABI but unlike his predecessors, is proud to be based at CABI in Nairobi, Kenya. Previously he has worked with the International Institute of Biological Control. He is widely travelled and has represented CABI at high-level meetings all over the world, such as addressing the plenary session of the World Summit for Sustainable Development (Rio plus 10) and IUCN’s World Conservation Congress.

Dennis is delighted to be heading GISP for a second term, and says his goal is to ensure the financial sustainability of GISP so that it is better able to tackle the problem of invasive species, especially in developing countries. His experience in international development and of running an organisation whose success depends almost entirely on building good relations with governments and other stakeholders will undoubtedly stand him in good stead.