Ambassadors

Dr. Biruté Mary Galdikas has been studying and protecting orangutans and their tropical rainforest habitat in Borneo for over 50 years.  She has been instrumental in helping save wild orangutans from extinction and helping bring the conservation crisis regarding orangutans and tropical rain forests to the attention of the world. She is President of Orangutan Foundation International (OFI) and a Professor at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia and Professor Extraordinaire at Universitas Nasional in Jakarta, Indonesia. She has won numerous awards for her research and conservation work.

Steven George is an Earth Observation Technology and Systems Engineer at the European Space Agency (ESA) based in Noordwijk, Netherlands. He supports the design and engineering of Earth Observation Satellites which have become are invaluable tool for monitoring and understanding our planet’s dynamic processes and environment. He holds an MSc Physics and an MSc Astronautics & Space Engineering, accompanied by a rich history volunteer work, including organising & leading national student space initiatives, contributing to UN Volunteers mapping initiatives, leading public workshops on the climate crisis, and sets up new clubs wherever he goes. Since April 2022, Steve has become a fervent advocate for animal rights and climate justice, recognizing the interconnectedness between oppressive systems that profit from the marginalisation of others. He believes that restoring our relationship with nature and animals is foundational for establishing a more equitable world.

Robbie Lockie is a digital media expert and influential figure within the global vegan movement. They are perhaps best known for being the co-founder and co-director of Plant Based News. 

Lockie was born in Zimbabwe, Africa, and started a career in digital design before relocating to London, England, in 1999.

Like most people, Lockie grew up eating meat – but they decided to try out a plant-based diet in 2013 after experiencing health problems. The switch had a hugely positive impact on them, which led Robbie to research other benefits of veganism. It was then that their eyes were opened to the immense suffering of farmed animals. 

Veganism has since become a major part of Robbie’s life. They founded Plant Based News alongside Klaus Mitchell in 2017, and the digital media platform has become the world’s leading source of vegan news. It has 80 million impressions a month, and almost 3 million followers on social media. 

Robbie is also the founder of the globally celebrated initiative World Plant Milk Day. They have produced a number of videos for animal rights organisation Viva!, including The Dairy Industry’s… TRASH and Swine. The latter explores antibiotic-resistant superbugs on factory farms.

Through all their valuable work, Robbie draws attention to how a vegan lifestyle can benefit animals, the environment, and our health. They also disseminate much-needed information that mainstream media often chooses to ignore. Truly “disrupting the conventional narrative.”

Jimmy Videle is a farmer, activist, naturalist, consultant and researcher. He has been a consultant and researcher with A.U.M. Films (producers of Cowspiracy and What the Health), the Humane Party USA and the Animal Protection Party, Canada. He lives with his wife, Mélanie Bernier and five rescue cats on the small-scale veganic farm, La Ferme de l’Aube Accueil (lafermedelaube.com) in Boileau, Québec. He has been growing his own food and homesteading for over twenty-five years and became a professional full-time organic farmer in 2005. From 2010-2014 he worked and consulted on eleven, organic and permaculture farms throughout Hawaii, Mexico, Central America, South America and Québec before settling at his current home in 2014.

He is the author of The Veganic Grower’s Handbook: Cultivating Fruits, Vegetables and Herbs from Urban Backyard to Rural Farmyard: The Veganic Grower’s Handbook – Lantern (lanternpm.org), the host of The Veganic Grower’s Hour YouTube show, and the co-founder of the North American Veganic Certification Standard (NAVCS) – Certified Veganic North American Veganic Certification Standard – Serving USA, Canada, and Mexico (certifiedveganic.org) whose mission is to certify farmers throughout North America in 100% plant-based agriculture principles and practices, and create a community that works to end animal agriculture forever.

As a naturalist he has conducted field studies as a ‘citizen scientist’ logging more than 10,000 hours of field work with theNational Audubon Society, National Park Service, US Fish & Wildlife Service, Nature Conservancy, Birds Canada and the Arizona and Québec Breeding Bird Atlas’s.