The Team

Sian Waters

Founder, Advisor & Trustee Barbary Macaque Awareness & conservation (UK)

Siân is from South Wales, UK and has been working with wildlife for over 30 years, mostly in primate conservation.

Siân is a biosocial conservationist specialising in the human dimension of conservation. She is a member of the IUCN/SSC Primate and Reintroduction Specialist Groups, a research associate in the Department of Anthropology of Durham University & the Department of Biosciences at Swansea University UK

Sian is also available for conservation consultancy work.

Email: sianwaters@gmail.com

Publications: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sian-Waters

Ahmed El Harrad

President Barbary Macaque Conservation in the Rif

Ahmed has been working with Sian surveying Barbary macaques since 2004. Ahmed is responsible for macaque monitoring and project logistics. He is responsible for the administration of BMCRif. Ahmed enjoys visiting schools and telling schoolchildren about Barbary macaques and was awarded Primate Education Network’s (PEN) educator of the month in 2013 for his efforts.

Haitam Skhairi

Operations and Research Manager

Haitam joined us in October 2025 as our Operations and Research Manager. Haitam is a science graduate and is currently assisting Ahmed in managing the project in Morocco. He very much enjoys the work and is working hard with the rest of the team surveying the Barbary macaques in Bouhachem forest.

Lucy Radford

Volunteer

Lucy has volunteered and worked in primate conservation for over ten years, and has a particular interest in human-animal interactions and inclusive conservation initiatives.

She has an MSc in Primate Conservation from Oxford Brookes University and worked as Project Developer for Handshake Productions for two years. She has also worked for Sumatran Orangutan Society as Engagement Manager, and for the Interdisciplinary Centre for Conservation Science as Senior Research Facilitator.

Mohamed Chetuan

Project Assistant

Mohamed is our project assistant and lives in the village of Taliamine on the edge of the forest.

Mohamed has a huge knowledge of the macaque groups and where they spend their time. He calls himself the macaques’ guardian and has himself rescued an infant macaque from domestic dogs and returned it to its mother. Mohamed looks out for the macaques keeping them safe from dogs.

Ahmed Chetuan

Project Assistant & Rural Education Officer

Ahmed lives in the village of Taliamine on the edge of Bouhachem forest. Ahmed previously worked as a shepherd and has been a key supporter of BMAC’S work since 2009. Ahmed has played a key role in persuading the young shepherds of Taliamine to refrain from persecuting and killing macaques. He is now able to pursue his interest in the macaques and the forest full-time an employee of BMCRif.

Tamlin Watson

Tamlin has a background spanning animal welfare, wildlife conservation, human-animal interactions, and behaviour change. Educated to postgraduate level and just about to undertake her PhD, she is a social scientist and zoologist using mixed methods and ethnography to develop an in depth understanding of human-animal lifescapes. Tamlin is particularly interested in understanding and supporting marginalised communities (including those of marginalised species) to co-create change and has worked for the last few years exploring the relationships between humans and equids at work.

Tamlin is a member of the specialist team in Human Behaviour Change for Life CIC: https://hbcforlife.org/tamlin-watson-specialist-team/

Publications: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Tamlin-Watson

Mohammed Abdou Baziz

Design Volunteer

Moh is responsible for the design and production of our awareness materials in Morocco. Moh lives in Tetouan. He is responsible for the design of our anti-trade banners and the re-design and production of the “The Story of the Macaque Teshta”.

Trustees

Dr Tracie McKinney

Dr Tracie McKinney is a senior lecturer of biological anthropology at the University of South Wales, and a member of the IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group Section on Human-Primate Interactions. Tracie’s work focuses on the ways humans and nonhuman primates share space, including primate tourism, crop foraging, and habitat fragmentation.

Dr Amanda Webber

Amanda is a Senior Lecturer in the Science Communication Unit and Programme Leader of the MSc Science Communication at the University of the West of England, UK.

Dr Kimberley Hockings

Kim is a Senior Lecturer in Conservation Science and Programme Leader of the MSc in Conservation and Biodiversity at the University of Exeter, UK.