Our team
Today, ENV has grown to a team of 30 dedicated staff who work from our office in Hanoi. Highlighted below are the managers of ENV who have made significant contributions to ENV’s development over the last two decades.
Vu Thi Quyen, Founder & Executive Director
In 1996, when Quyen graduated from Hanoi National University, she immediately went to work for Fauna and Flora International (FFI), a UK-based NGO working in Cuc Phuong National Park (Vietnam’s first national park located about 120 km southwest of Hanoi). At Cuc Phuong, Quyen developed and ran the park’s community-based environmental education program, focused on raising awareness within local communities about the need to protect the park. It was the first program of its kind in Vietnam.
Having pioneered the program model at Cuc Phuong, Quyen began training environmental educators from national parks and nature reserves throughout Vietnam. In 2000, less than two years before the formal end of the FFI project at Cuc Phuong, Quyen founded ENV, the country’s first nature and environment-focused local non-government organization. ENV was a means of sustaining her efforts to train educators and influence attitudes and behavior on a much larger scale. Under Quyen’s leadership, ENV evolved to focus on what Quyen considers to be the greatest threat to her country’s wildlife (and wildlife in other environments as well): hunting and illegal wildlife trade, driven by an ever-increasing consumer demand.
In 2008, Quyen completed her Masters in Geography, specializing in natural resource management. She currently serves as the Executive Director of ENV.
Her husband Douglas Hendrie serves as the Chief Technical Advisor to ENV. They have two daughters, Kylee and Katherine, and currently split their time between working in Vietnam and the U.S.
Bui Thi Ha, Vice Director & Head of Policy and Legislation Department
Having earned a BA and MA from two prestigious law schools of Vietnam, Ha is arguably the country’s foremost expert on wildlife protection law. Ha has contributed to and led efforts to strengthen multiple wildlife protection laws in Vietnam while working directly with prosecutors and judges to ensure traffickers are punished accordingly. As an expert on wildlife protection laws, her legal advice is highly sought after by law enforcement agencies across Vietnam, while her leadership of ENV’s legal team has helped put many wildlife traffickers behind bars. Ha’s passion for wildlife, combined with her expertise in wildlife protection law, have resulted in unprecedented impacts on behalf of wildlife in Vietnam since 2013.
Nguyen Thi Phuong Dung, Director of Operations
Nhan Thi Hien, Chief Financial Officer & Administration Manager
Douglas Hendrie, Chief Technical Advisor
Doug first came to Vietnam in 1996 to complete research for his Masters in Wetland Science and Conservation from the University of Massachusetts. He then returned in 1997 to work for Fauna and Flora International (FFI) as Director of the Cuc Phuong Conservation Project at Cuc Phuong National Park. At the park he met Quyen, who he married in 2000.
Since ENV’s beginnings, Doug has supported the development of ENV as Chief Technical Advisor. However, in addition to his work at ENV, Doug has worn many hats in Vietnam, which include founding the Asian Turtle Program in pursuit of his life-long interest in tortoises and freshwater turtles, and helping to establish Wildlife Conservation Society’s Vietnam program in 2004. Doug is also credited with helping to establish the Small Carnivore and Pangolin Conservation Program and Turtle Conservation Center at Cuc Phuong National Park, both of which were programs under the Cuc Phuong Conservation Project he directed. He sits on the boards of the UK-based nonprofit organization Indo-Myanmar Conservation and the Turtle Conservation Fund, and established a nonprofit in the United States dedicated to helping support conservation efforts in Vietnam.
Presently, Doug works full time for ENV, serving on the management board and tasked with strategic development of ENV and its staff. He also directly manages ENV’s Wildlife Crime and Investigations Unit. Like his wife Quyen, he currently splits his time between working in Vietnam and the US.
Special thanks to the following people who contributed to the creation and development of ENV:
The late Prof.Vo Quy
Dr. Nguyen Cu
Michael & Verna Kennedy
Jake Brunner
Dave Eastham
Chris Gee
Mike Appleton