Patrick Ramage
Whale Program Director

Patrick Ramage was named Global Whale Program Director in January 2007. In this role, Patrick leads IFAW’s efforts worldwide to protect whales from threats. This includes promoting practical solutions to end commercial whaling as well as reduce habitat destruction, ocean pollution such as high intensity ocean noise, ship strikes, entanglement in fishing gear, and the emerging threat of global climate change.

Patrick has more than 10 years of experience with IFAW. In his previous role as Public Affairs Director, he led the organization’s media, government relations, and public education efforts around the world. 

Vassili Papastavrou
IFAW Whale Biologist

Vassili Papastavrou has attended meetings of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) since 1992. He is an invited participant to the IWC Scientific Committee and has studied whales since 1984. Studies on sperm whales include work in Sri Lanka, off the Galapagos Islands and the Azores. In 1992, Vassili was involved in setting up a research project to study minke whales off the west coast of Scotland, as a part of a whale watching project. Papastavrou has written scientific papers on sperm, minke and humpback whales. He has written four children's books and numerous popular articles.
 
Vassili leads the IFAW Whale Team, which is working on a global level to end commercial whaling.
 

Beatriz Bugeda
Country Director, IFAW Latin America

Beatriz Bugeda Bernal joined IFAW in February of 2001 as Director of IFAW's Regional Office for Latin America. From its

Mexico City base, the office covers a region which is key to the global goals and concerns of the organization. Beatriz oversees campaigns in Mexico, Central, and South America. She is also a member of IFAW's international whale team and CITES team.

Before coming to IFAW, Beatriz was an independent environmental consultant working on a number of animal- and habitat-related projects, such as the creation of the New Biosphere Reserve for the Monarch Butterfly in 2000; the design and implementation of a campaign to persuade the Mexican government to sign the Inter-American Convention for the Protection and Conservation of Sea Turtles, the only international binding treaty dedicated exclusively to endangered sea turtles and their habitat; and working on a proposal for sustainable tourism at the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development. She was Head of the Mexico Office of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Commission for Environmental Cooperation and member of the Mexican Delegation at the Rio Summit in 1992.
 

Beth Allgood
Program Manager

Beth recently joined IFAW's the Washington DC office. Her portfolio includes policy advocacy for whale conservation, work with the US Trade Representative's trade and environment policy committee, and international wildlife conservation policy. Beth came to IFAW from The Nature Conservancy, where she was Senior Policy Advisor for International Government Relations. Prior to her work at TNC, Beth was the Congressional Liaison at the World Wildlife Fund. She has also spent time working for the government, first at the Peace Corps and later in the Latin America and Caribbean Bureau at USAID.

Anna Moscrop
Team and Projects Manager, Song of the Whale

Anna volunteered for IFAW on Song of the Whale during surveys of the Ligurian Sea Sanctuary in the Mediterranean Sea in 1994, and shortly afterwards, joined the team as a full-time researcher, becoming the Song of the Whale team and projects manager in 1998. She has been working for IFAW on Song of the Whale projects and other cetacean related projects and campaigns since 1994, undertaking non-invasive research, planning and managing field projects as well as writing scientific, educational and publicity materials, providing advice and support on various IFAW whale and marine habitat related issues and representing IFAW at scientific meetings, media and fundraising events.
 
Anna has a background in marine biology and conservation, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and a Master of Science degree in Aquatic Resource Management from the University of London. In addition, she undertook a Masters degree (By Research) assessing the Threats to Cetaceans from the Degradation of Marine Habitats, at the University of Greenwich, which focused on the then little-known issue of noise pollution, as well as toxic and persistent pollutants, disturbance from vessels, climate change and habitat loss.