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Why IFAW?
IFAW has led the fight to stop the cruel slaughter of seal pups
since the 1960s, resulting in the import ban of newborn whitecoat
seal pelts in 1983. Today, with offices in 16 countries, IFAW is the
world's leading animal welfare
organization, fighting to save seals both on the ice and through vital
scientific and market research. Read more >> Spread the Word to Save Seals
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Tell a friend to speak out against the seal hunt.
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David Lavigne is science advisor to the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). From 1973-1996, he was a professor in the Department of Zoology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada. After receiving his BSc in Zoology from the University of Western Ontario in 1968, he taught high school for one year before entering graduate school at the University of Guelph, completing an MSc in 1972 and a PhD in 1974, both for work on vision in seals. Remaining at Guelph as a faculty member, his research interests shifted, initially to problems of censusing harp seals to estimate annual pup production and population size. By 1975, the focus of his research was pinniped bioenergetics. For the latter work he earned a Dr philos degree from the University of Oslo in 1988. Currently, his major interests are in the areas of conservation biology, wildlife management, and natural resources policy. 
Sheryl Fink is a Senior Research and Projects Specialist working out of the Guelph (Canada) office of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). She has a BSc in Wildlife Biology from the University of Guelph. Sheryl has been studying Canada’s commercial seal hunt since 1994. She began working for the International Marine Mammal Association (an IFAW organization) in 1998, and has worked for IFAW since 2000. Sheryl has worked on IFAW’s seal campaign for 10 years. As a researcher, she closely follows the latest scientific research and other ongoing developments surrounding the Canadian seal hunt. She has been part of IFAW’s on-ice seal hunt observation team for 6 years, and is currently a spokesperson for the seal campaign in Canada. She is also the author of IFAW’s annual publication Seals and Sealing in Canada. Most recently she was the Associate Editor of Gaining Ground: In Pursuit of Ecological Sustainability, which was published by the IFAW and the University of Limerick in June 2006.
Dr. Ralf Sonntag joined IFAW as Director of the German office in Hamburg in August 2003. After completing his PhD as a Marine Biologist at University of Bremen on aspects of the 1988 seal die-off in the North Sea, he worked for several years on the German Small Cetacean Project as a scientist at the University of Kiel. He was a member of scientific committees of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and of the Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans of the Baltic and North Seas (ASCOBANS). He was very involved in the initiative for the establishment of a whale sanctuary for small cetaceans around the German North Sea Islands Sylt and Amrum.
Robbie Marsland joined IFAW in December 2002 as Head of Campaigns and Communications and became Director of the UK office in July 2006. Robbie leads a team of 35 dedicated staff working from London, working primarily on campaigns to end commercial whaling, to stop the Canadian seal hunt, to protect elephants and other endangered species from commercial trade, and to ensure the Hunting Act is enforced.
Copyright ©2008 International Fund for Animal Welfare, 290 Summer Street, Yarmouth Port, MA 02675
A Better World for Animals and People
A Better World for Animals and People