Jeff Schnurr travelled in over 35 countries before landing in Tanzania, where he began the tree planting initiative that grew into Community Forests International. Comfortable speaking English, Spanish or Ki’swahili, Jeff has done much to spread the techniques of forest renewal around the globe and has planted over half a million trees in the process.

Mbarouk Mussa has over 10 years experience in environmental development and is known on the island of Pemba for his ongoing commitment to the betterment of rural communities and their improved livelihoods. A great asset to the Community Forest team, Mbarouk’s skills as a project manager and financial officer work to sustain Pemba’s forests for generations to come.

Said Suwedi is a graduate from the Forestry Training School in Arusha, Tanzania. He has worked extensivly as a consultant and a full time staff members at the Department of Commercial Crops Fruits and Forests, Department of Agriculture and for CARE International. Said Suwedi is an expert in nursery set up and tree care and continues to act as CFI’s key forestry professional.

After graduating Mount Allison University with a BA in International Relations, Intercultural Studies and Environmental Studies, Daimen Hardie began working his woodlot in New Brunswick, where his practices of sustainable forestry spread throughout the community. Daimen has seen 7 seasons in the woods tree planting, in the Maritimes, Ontario or B.C.

Zachary Melanson is CFI’s resident photographer and Communications Officer. This rare split of talents resulted after a BFA from NASCAD, a course in Ecological Forestry from Manumet College and 4 summers of tramping around in the woods, planting trees in Ontario and BC. A passionate amateur Mycologist Zach brings a diverse array of skills to the organzation.

Josh is the mind behind CFI’s web based projects. After completing his BS in Computer Science at Stanford, Josh spent more than a year on Pemba teaching computers, math and science before returning to California to help launch the web start-up Apture. Josh continues to develop CFI’s technological capacity and returns to Pemba to help on the ground whenever he’s able.

Estelle holds degrees from Mount Allison University in the fields of Psychology and Biology and spearheads CFI’s Canadian environmental programming. As a certified herbalist, Estelle is currently working to promote the Non-timber forest products found in the Acadian Forest region and hopes to assist private woodlot owners in bringing NTFPs to market.

Mike Tritchler joined the CFI team after volunteering with Peace Corps for three years as a Math and Science teacher. Mike currently runs the Global Schools Link in Pemba and is developing a climate change education curriculum which will be available in both English and Kiswahili. Mike is originally from California and picked up a B.S. in Geophysics from UCSB.

Jesse holds a BS in Electrical Engineering and an MS in Computer Science from Stanford, and is the co-founding chief engineer for the tech company Apture. Jesse uses his technical skills and talents to develop CFI’s technical capabilities and looks forward to helping out in the field on Pemba as well.

An internationally acclaimed professional artist and designer, Maryam has graciously volunteered her talents to design CFI’s graphics and website. Originally from Iran, Maryam now lives and works in San Francisco. Her portfolio is online at http://maryamkazerooni.com/