Dr. Putu Liza Kusuma Mustika (Icha) is the coordinator of Whale Stranding Indonesia and its web designer. She is a cetologist (whale and dolphin scientist) specialised in marine mammal tourism, Marine Mammal Protected Areas (MMPAs), stranding issue, bycatch and general conservation and management issues of whales and dolphins in developing countries. Icha is a a seasoned trainer for the national marine mammal stranding network. She handles the Twitter account of Whale Stranding Indonesia. Icha is a founder of the CETASI. Currently living in Townsville (Australia) with occasional travels to Indonesia, Icha obtained her PhD from the James Cook University in Australia, where she is now an adjunct researcher and a part time lecturer. Click here for her blog and here for her ORCID page.
Starting in February 2018, Offal Prinanda is our database volunteer who regularly updates stranding events, training workshops and other news to our Facebook page. Offal also assists Yanti and Icha in managing the offline data catalog (Icha and Yanti are still the PIC for online data-entry). An avid diver, Offal received his Bachelor-degree student from the Diponegoro University in Semarang. Offal is now the primary data entry officer for WSI, assisting Icha in making sure that the database keeps the most recent records.
Starting in June 2022, Grace Easteria is our social media volunteer. She is a marine activist who is pursuing her Master's degree in Coastal and Marine Resources at IPB University. She has experience of working in NGOs where she carried out mangrove and coral restoration. Her expertise is in climate change in Indonesia, specifically blue carbon conservation. She also has a keen passion for disseminating awareness of whales as the key role in combating climate change.
I Made Jaya Ratha (Jaya): Jaya is a veterinarian with a particular interest in sea turtle conservation. Jaya's role in the database is particularly to ensure that the codification of the specimens in our dataset is done correctly, as well as to ensure that we capture most events out there. He is also actively involved in data collection and rescue efforts for stranded marine mammals in Bali. Jaya is a seasoned trainer for the national marine mammal stranding network. During training workshops, Jaya's specialisation is veterinary-related subjects, including anatomy and necropsy. Jaya is also a founder of the CETASI.
Adityo Setiawan (Adit) is our database manager of the stranding database, particularly focusing on training and management. Adit also assists the communication and tactical development of the national stranding network. Having worked in eastern Indonesia for several years, Adit is a natural spotter of whales and dolphins. In 2013, he completed his Masters degree on natural resource management from James Cook University in Australia. In addition to improving his stranding management skills, Adit's main focus is now on the design and management of Marine Mammal Protected Areas. Adit is also a founder of the CETASI.
Februanty S. Purnomo (Yanti) started the online database with Icha as one of the database managers, particularly focusing on stranding data. Yanti did her honours degree back in 1999 in Lovina, a work that eventually became the springboard for Icha's PhD work on dolphin tourism in Bali. She is interested in doing more research on marine mammal and fisheries interactions. Yanti is also a seasoned trainer for the national marine mammal stranding network and a very good program manager. For the last several years, Yanti has been working in climate change issues in Indonesia and Southeast Asia. Yanti was also a founder of the CETASI. In late 2018, she finished her Masters degree program from the University of Waikato, New Zealand.
Meet our past overseas freelance colleagues
Stefan Baier: "Anyone who dares to stand up and goes for what they believe in, who chases down their dream, those are the people I most admire. My passion is to work with people, be independent and to work in expressive media." Stefan has been with the Whale Stranding Indonesia since its conception in January 2013. He built the database from scratch and helped his fellow Indonesians raised the website profile in cyberspace and in the real world. Stefan is also the founder of Streamline Studios, a booming video game company based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Check his website, it's awesome!
Wong Ee Phin: Currently a lecturer at the University of Nottingham, Malaysia, Ee Phin was instrumental in establishing Whale Stranding Indonesia as an effective online database. Together with Stefan, she worked tirelessly to make the website up and running during the early days of its inception. Ee Phin has more than five years of working experience in Malaysia's conservation scene and was involved in several conservation projects under various Non-Government Organisation (i.e. World Wildlife Fund-Malaysia Programme and Wildlife Conservation Society) on conservation issues, ranging from wetlands to species conservation, and ground wildlife enforcement. In late 2016, Dr Wong finished her PhD on stress hormones in translocated and non-translocated elephants in Malaysia.