Our Team

All APOPO facts in a nutshell: If you missed out on reading the 2009 APOPO Annual Report, you can download it from the APOPO website:http://www.herorat.org/sites/default/files/Apopoannualreport2009.pdf.

It includes an overview of all our developments, achievements and challenges of 2009, along with our organizational goals for 2010.

Breeding a new generation of HeroRATs is no easy feat! Our Belgian breeding expert, Dimitri, and caretaker, Albert, have been working hard to provide all kinds of new and different stimuli for the couples in our rat-breeding program. New toys, extra play time, slow introductions, darker kennels, a variety of tasty (hidden) food treats, the list goes on…

So far in May, we have welcomed 20 new HeroRAT pups, to be heard squeaking as you walk past the breeding kennels. Well done, breeding team!

The HeroRATs team has been busy launching this brand new website!

Keep exploring it to learn all about how we got started, why we chose to work with rats, find out more about the work we do, meet the team of heroes and humans who make everything happen on the ground, and even take a look at the HeroRATs in action!

If you have any questions or feedback, please feel free to contact us at herorats@herorat.org. We welcome your suggestions!

Miraji started with APOPO in 2005 as a trainer, but received his first contract with us in 2002 as a casual worker. He helped to build the training field we still use today and laid out the boxes in which our rats train. Prior to starting with us, Miraji was a carpenter who built roofs, houses, furniture, and fences. He currently trains a number of rats with his training partner, Linda, including: Munah, Sasha, Raula, Cooper, Stanley, Harvey, Survivor I, Sniffles, Mtarami, Letti, and Barker.

Today, APOPO welcomed the arrival of a new volunteer researcher, Dimitri Geelhand from Belgium. Dimitri has completed a Masters in Evolutionary and Behavioral Biology at the University of Antwerp. His thesis involved a study of the small mammals inhabiting Saadani National Park, in the coastal region of Tanzania. Dimitri became familiar with APOPO’s work during time spent at the Pest Management Centre of Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) in 2008. He has also spent time working as a research assistant for a project on sea turtles in Costa Rica.

At the beginning of this year, we lost a dear friend to the APOPO family, Mr. Harold Mangesho. He was a born leader and someone you could never forget.

A very kind-hearted man, Harold came from the Kilimanjaro region of Tanzania, from a long line of farmers and mechanics. He kept many animals and on the weekends enjoyed lively dancing, working on cars, walking, and watching football. A loving husband and father, Harold put those around him at ease and made things happen.

APOPO is excited to announce the arrival of psychopharmacologist and behavior analyst Alan Poling of Western Michigan University. Professor Poling has published 11 books and more than 250 articles. His work has appeared in 40 different professional journals. He will be working with the APOPO team over the next year to increase our research capacity and to further streamline our training processes. We are happy to have him and look forward to his important contributions! Welcome to the team Alan!

Bart Weetjens, the founder of APOPO, attended the World Economic Forum on Africa from June 10th to the 12th. The theme for the 2009 conference is "Implications of the Global Economic Crisis for Africa;” the conference is hosted in Cape Town, South Africa.

APOPO is happy to announce that we now have a Chief Financial Officer, Sabrina Antognazza. Antognazza arrived at APOPO in the beginning of May. She will be in charge of administration and finance for all of APOPO and HeroRATS. She will also work in human resources and general managing.

Originally from Italy, Sabrina Antognazza has been working in different social projects in Africa prior to starting at APOPO. We want to warmly welcome Sabrina Antgnazza to our team!

Last week, Christophe Cox, APOPO's CEO, and Renaud de Hemptinne, volunteer consultant in health economics, traveled to Cape Town, South Africa. The main purpose of their visit was to research the possibilities for expanding the activities of APOPO into Cape Town. The team was on a fact-finding mission to determine the relevance and possibility of using rats to detect Tuberculosis in this metropolitan area.