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Rashedul Alam
Senior Finance Officer – Finance and Administration Program
Rashedul Alam joined the WCS Bangladesh Program in 2014 as Finance Officer. In 2023, he was promoted to Senior Finance Officer. Rashed supports the Finance and Administrative team in accounting, financial reporting, administrative tasks and logistic arrangements. He has a Master of Science degree in Ecology and Environmental Science from the University of Rajshahi, completed a post-graduate diploma in Financial Management at the Bangladesh Institute of Management, and a certificate course in Accounting from the Institute of Business Administration at the University of Dhaka.
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Sukanta Biswas
Manager, Human Resources and NGO Affairs Bureau Liaison
Sukanta Biswas holds a Master of Social Science degree in Sociology from the National University of Bangladesh. He joined WCS in 2018 as NGO Affairs Bureau (NGOAB) Liaisons Officer and was promoted to Manager of Human Resources and NGOAB Liaisons in 2023. Sukanta’s core responsibility is to ensure compliancy with global and regional WCS policies and national government requirements. He liaises with the NGOAB and local administrators across our project sites in Bangladesh, and supports WCS Bangladesh program teams with project logistics, staff recruitment and evaluation, and program administration. Before joining WCS, Sukanta was an Administrative Officer for seven years with the NGO Shushilan.
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Arafat Rahman Khan
Senior Officer - Education Outreach Program
Md. Arafat Rahman Khan started his journey with WCS Bangladesh as student intern for the ‘Fish for Future’ exhibition in 2017 and the Marine Megafauna and Fisheries Survey in 2018. He joined the WCS Educational Outreach Program as Visual Communication Officer in 2019 and was promoted to Senior Program Officer in 2023. Arafat’s primary responsibility is to visually enhance and publicize WCS discoveries and resulting recommendations to inspire people for wildlife conservation. This includes conceptualizing communication and training methods and designing supporting tools that enhance effective outreach programs, trainings, and policy developments. He also supports the terrestrial and marine programs with technological solutions. Arafat completed his Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree in Zoology and a Masters in Fisheries from Jagannath University in Dhaka, Bangladesh. For this MSc thesis, Arafat collaborated with WCS Giant freshwater whipray research. He has been involved in a variety of research, including on the feeding behavior of Pig-tailed macaques, karyological studies of Hilsha shad, and fish assessments in the Andharmanik River in coastal Bangladesh.
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Robiul Kauser
Marine Field Officer - Marine Conservation Program
Robiul Kauser joined WCS Bangladesh in October 2020 as Field Officer for the Marine Conservation Program. Currently he is working on collecting, entering and verifying data from major shark and ray landing sites and mentoring citizen scientists. He has prior experience with hilsa fishery research in the Northern Bay of Bengal, investigated the eco-engineering role of fish, shellfish, molluscs and benthos species on Kutubdia Island, and supported the preparation of an agricultural sector development plan for the Cox’s Bazar district. Robiul completed a Bachelor and a Master of Science degree in Fisheries from the University of Chittagong in Bangladesh.
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Mohammad Rasel Mia
Training and Education Officer - Educational Outreach Program
Mohammad Rasel Mia started working with the WCS Bangladesh Program as a student intern during his undergraduate studies, participating in a marine megafauna at-sea survey and several educational outreach programs in Dhaka and the coastal region. In February 2021 he joined as Training and Education Officer to support the Educational Outreach Program in the development, implementation, and evaluation of educational outreach and training programs, communication strategies, and locally appropriate communication and training tools for improved protection of threatened wildlife and their priority habitats. Rasel graduated in Wildlife and Biodiversity Conservation from the Jagannath University in Dhaka. For his thesis research on bat diversity in the capital city he was awarded a USAID research grant and a National Science and Technology Fellowship from the Government of Bangladesh. Previous to that, he received a grant from the Youth Activity Fund of The Explorers Club for a study on pig-tailed macaque. Before joining WCS, Rasel was a program officer for the Marinelife Alliance stationed on St. Martin’s Island.
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S. M. Imam Abed Al Hadi
SMART Patrol Mentor - Terrestrial Conservation Program
S. M. Imam Abed Al Hadi interned at WCS Bangladesh as observer on an at-sea marine megafauna and fisheries survey before joining as SMART Patrol Mentor in October 2020. Hadi accompanies Bangladesh Forest Department patrol teams on their boat-based SMART patrols of the Sundarbans Reserved Forest to provide onboard mentoring in data collection, navigation, and data transfer. Between patrols he supports the WCS SMART Program in preparing and conducting educational outreach and training programs. Prior to joining WCS, Hadi worked as Research Assistant for the WildTeam on USAID BAGH Activity Project. Hadi holds a Master of Science degree in Zoology (Fisheries) and a Bachelor of Science degree in Zoology from the National University of Bangladesh.
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Mohammad Shalauddin
SMART Patrol Mentor - Terrestrial Conservation Program
Mohammad Shalauddin joined the WCS Bangladesh SMART Program in October 2020. As SMART Patrol Mentor he accompanies SMART patrol teams of the Bangladesh Forest Department in the Sundarbans and mentors patrol officers in data collection, transfer and safe navigation. He reports on completed patrols and supports the WCS SMART team in planning and conducting educational outreach and training programs. Before joining WCS, Shalauddin was as a research assistant at the Aquatic Bio-Resource Research Lab in the Department of Fisheries Biology and Genetics at the Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University. While completing his Master of Science degree in Wildlife and Biodiversity Conservation and a Bachelor degree in Zoology from Jagannath University, he assisted several conservation research projects.
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Sabbir Ahmed
Media Data Collector, Combating Wildlife Trade - Terrestrial Conservation Program
Sabbir Ahmed has been working as Media Data Collector for the WCS Bangladesh Terrestrial Conservation Program since 2020. He examines, compiles, and archives wildlife trade incident reports from national newspapers and social media channels in the WCS Bangladesh Wildlife Trade Media Database on a daily basis. Before joining WCS, Sabbir managed the Digital Information Center of the Ranishimul Union Parishad in Sherpur (2011-2019), worked as a public health facilitator for the Dhaka Ahsania Mission (2007-2008), as a data entry operator for Digital Architect Limited in Dhaka (2006 -2007), and as a community facilitator for the Social Development Foundation (2005-2006). He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the National University of Bangladesh and a diploma in Computer Basics from the National Training and Research Institute in Jamalpur.
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Dr. Syed Arif Azad
Senior Adviser - Marine Conservation Program
Dr. Syed Arif Azad joined the Department of Fisheries in 1984 and served as its Director General from 2011 to 2018. During his tenure, the longest in the departments history, he was also the Chair of the Network of Aquaculture Centers in Asia-Pacific (NACA) Governing Council (2017/18).
As Senior Advisor to the WCS Bangladesh Marine Conservation Program, Dr. Azad supports our efforts to improve marine fisheries policies and the technical capacity and collaborations required to implement them, especially within the Department of Fisheries and Forest Department. He also assists with the development, management, and reporting of projects and strategies that enable WCS engagement with government and community partners in Bangladesh.
Dr. Azad is a natural resources management specialist with expertise on fisheries management and policies, gender and development, project preparation and management, training and capacity development, and food safety and value chain. He holds a Masters degree in Marine Management from the Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada, and obtained his PhD on Gender Relations in Aquaculture in Bangladesh. He has extensively published on fisheries management in international peer-reviewed journals and books.
After retiring as Director General of the Department of Fisheries in Bangladesh, Dr. Syed Arif Azad was engaged as Chief Technical Consultant of the Solidaridad Network for Asia, and as consultant by the Palli Karma Sohayok Foundation (PKSF), and by the World Bank Group for assessing abandoned, lost, and discarded fishing gear in the Bay of Bengal. He is currently a member of the Executive Committee of the national Safe Agro Food Efforts (BSAFE) Foundation, and of the Krishibid Institution of Bangladesh (KIB) Central Committee.
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Raisa Noor
Marine Data Management Officer - Marine Conservation Program
Raisa Noor holds a Masters degree in Geography and Environment from the University of Dhaka. Prior to joining WCS Bangladesh in January 2023, she worked on GIS and remote sensing for different government projects as Technical Assistant at the Center for Environmental and Geographic Information Services (CEGIS). As Marine Data Management Officer, Raisa processes large volumes of data on small-scale fisheries and elasmobranch landings collected through our citizen science networks and dedicated surveys. Her support extends to processing satellite imagery, visualizing data, supporting marine spatial planning processes, and informing training and communication tools to improve data collection by citizen science fishermen, landing site data collectors, and government partners for informing effective marine conservation policies and interventions in Bangladesh.
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