meet the crew

 
mahesh

 
Asia Project Manager
Mahesh Sharma Kommu PGDMC

Mahesh hails from Hyderabad in South India. With a background in marketing and events organization, he turned his energies towards charity fundraising after arriving in London in 2001, and over a span of four years has worked for various charities including Gesture International, Action Aid, Red Cross, Oxfam, Care International, British Heart Foundation and Save the Children. Charity work is Mahesh's main focus and he subsequently returned to India to help establish a project for street children, assisting a newly founded local organization named Aashray to expand their work by organizing sensitization campaigns and designing various projects. Mahesh's work with Aashray resulted in the rehabilitation of 200 street children and reunited 25 runaway children with their families. He also manages several projects in India to facilitate community-based research into sustainable solutions to issues of poverty, poor sanitation and denial of basic rights, one outcome being the provision of clean water tanks for several villages in India.

To contact Mahesh: mahesh.sharma@down2earthdown2us.org

  kate  
Volunteer Coordinator
Kate Bevan BA (Hons)

Kate has a wide range of experience of the tourist industry and has gained first hand knowledge of working on ecological projects ranging from turtle rookeries to educational desert camping expeditions in her three years spent living in the Southern Hemisphere. Her background in leisure and adventure sports is predominantly customer service focused and she is adept at maintaining smooth operational systems whilst ensuring enjoyment and peace of mind. She has previously worked in fundraising and on research grant making programmes, engaging and liaising with scientists and grant applicants to promote cooperation between the voluntary sector and the research community. She is a dedicated active environmental campaigner with an emphasis on public engagement work.

To contact Kate: kate.bevan@down2earthdown2us.org

  anna  
Project Developer for Environmental Education Projects
Anna Karlsson BSc (Hons), MSc

Anna has a degree in Wildlife Conservation and a Masters in Conservation, specialising in biodiversity survey techniques, rainforest conservation and environmental policies and legislations. She has worked with UK charities as an environmental and animal welfare researcher and consultant. Anna has a background in First Aid for wild birds and mammals, human ecology, Latin American Studies and photography and media, and is our webmaster.

To contact Anna: anna.karlsson@down2earthdown2us.org

     
  abu   Stress reliever
Abu

Abu has been with Down2Earth from the start, acting as a stress reliever, and can be seen in the lap of another member of staff in most meetings.

 

Consultants


Sam Stewart

MSc Conservation, BSc (HONS) Ecology

Sam has worked for a number of conservation organisations and research institutes within Europe. He is particularly interested in interdisciplinary conservation research with a focus on marine conservation. He is a co-founder and executive member of the conservation organisation Ekocentrik, based in Zagreb, Croatia.

Prasanth Visweswaran

Prasanth works as a cameraman, photographer and technician. With experience in most things technical, Prasanth does consultancy for organisations and individuals, and is working on photography workshops for children. His passion lies in making things sustainable and environmentally friendly.

Mat Barnett

Mat has a degree in Fine Arts. Experienced in Grant Consultancy and Project Management, Mat undertakes capacity building consultancy work for small and medium charitable and not for profit organisations. After many years of devoting himself to the voluntary sector Mat came to the realisation that his passion lies in youth work and now spends most of his time organizing numerous events such as the annual Young London Photographers Competition. A man with many talents, Mat is also a keen turntablist.

Down2Earth's Translators

Chloé Yzoard

Jeanette Bolin

Maria Carillo

Sylvie Lewandowski