People

The Team

Louise Francis, l.francis@mappingforchange.org.uk

Louise is a co-founder and Managing Director of MfC. She has an academic background in environmental science and has over ten years’ experience of working with communities and grass-roots organisations in the UK and throughout the Eastern Caribbean, with a particular focus on justice, sustainability and community development. She specialises in the delivery of participatory mapping and citizen science activities. She is responsible for the day to day management of MfC and oversees the development and delivery of our activities.

Professor Muki Haklay, m.haklay@mappingforchange.org.uk 

Muki is a co-founder and Director of MfC. He is a Professor of Geographic Information Science and the director of UCL Extreme Citizen Science research group, which is dedicated to create new methods for participatory and collaborative science. His research interests include Public Access and use of Environmental Information, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Usability Engineering of GIS and Societal aspects of GIS use. He was involved in participatory GIS since 1999, when during his PhD research he explored how it can be used to involved local communities in understanding new developments in Wandsworth.

Ana Lemmo Charnalia, ana.lemmo@mappingforchange.org.uk

Ana is a Director of MfC and the Social Enterprise Business Manager at UCL Business Plc where she promotes, identifies and develops opportunities for social enterprise throughout UCL departments.  She brings 6 years of experience in social innovation and enterprise. After completing her MBA, she joined UnLtd, the Foundation for Social Entrepreneurs where she provided seed funding and support to social entrepreneurs in the UK. Prior to UnLtd, Ana planned and implemented economic development initiatives in Massachusetts, United States. She holds a BA in International Relations from Universidad de San Andres and an MBA from Oxford University.

Chris Church, c.church@mappingforchange.org.uk

Chris is a co-founder and Director of MfC. He has 20 years’ experience as an environmental consultant, after six years of work as local and regional development manager for Friends of the Earth UK. He is a founding member of the UK Environmental Justice Network, and was co-chair of ANPED for eight years. He has worked extensively with civil society groups in Eastern Europe.

Dr Claire Ellul, c.ellul@mappingforchange.org.uk

Claire is the Chief Technical Officer of MfC. She has previously worked as a GIS consultant; her research interests now include spatial databases and approaches for handling large quantities of spatial data. Additionally, she is currently conducting research into the integration of 3D GIS and spatial databases, examining issues relating to topology and performance. She is investigating approaches to building usable systems to facilitate data discovery and evaluation, as well as to ensure metadata capture and maintenance processes are integrated into data manipulation tasks.

Gail Austen-Price, gail.ap@mappingforchange.org.uk

Gail joined MfC in June 2012, and works one day a week undertaking general administrative tasks.  She has a diverse background, including accounting in large financial institutions, the National Farmers Union, a local Biological Records Centre, and lecturing undergraduates.  Gail holds an MSc in Advanced Methods in Taxonomy & Biodiversity (Natural History Museum and Imperial College) and a BSc in Animal Management.  She also has part-time roles in the ExCiteS group at UCL and the ICZN, and is actively involved with local nature conservation.

Sancha Gaere, s.gaere@mappingforchange.org.uk

Sancha is an undergraduate studying for a BA in Geography at UCL. She has both British and South Sudanese roots and hopes to use mapping to tackle social issues in both countries. Sancha has travelled extensively, with particular interests in human ecology and gender empowerment, as well as ethical and eco-friendly fashion. She has undertaken various placements both at home and abroad, including at Confident Children out of Conflict, DFID and the New Nation newspaper, South Sudan.

Grace Iara Souza, g.souza@mappingforchange.org.uk

Grace is a researcher on the subjects of sustainable development, human and environmental security, and political ecology. She holds an MA (with distinction) in Environment, Politics and Globalisation from King’s College London and a BA (with honours) in International Relations from Laureate International, in São Paulo. Her areas of investigation have focused on global demands and the local adaptation of environmental regimes. Grace was an intern here at MfC while doing her MA at King’s and since has remained an active member of the team.