Kate Thompson is a Ph.d. Candidate in Anthropology at Stony Brook University with degrees in Community, Environment and Development, Anthropology and World Literature from the Pennsylvania State University. She visited Amani in 2011 with the School for Field Studies. There she began a collaboration with Juma to build an international network, aiming to ensure publicity, fundraising and sustainable growth for Amani. Kate has conducted environmental education research as well as arts and literacy programming throughout East Africa, both with Amani and through her affiliation with the Children and Youth Empowerment Centre in Nyeri, Kenya. Her current work is based southeastern Madagascar exploring the ecological, social and economic implications of illegal poaching.