If you’ve been a dedicated reader of our monthly Gorilla News, then you have been the fortunate audience for an outstanding level of reporting from Communications Officer Molly Feltner. Molly joined Gorilla Doctors as a volunteer in November 2009, and then joined our staff part-time in August 2010 to lead all of our outreach initiatives. Under Molly’s guidance, Gorilla Doctors produced monthly e-newsletters, frequent blogs, built a large and loyal Facebook following, and gained critical international media exposure. Her stories were always compelling, and her photos spoke a thousand words. In all of her work, Molly’s dedication to gorillas, their world, and the people who care for and about them, was loud and clear. Gorilla Doctors will very much miss her creativity and energy as she moves on to a new position as  Handicap International’s full-time communications officer in Washington, DC. Good luck Molly!

Molly Feltner, with Gorilla Doctor Jan Ramer, photographs a new orphan in DR Congo.

There’s a silver lining in every cloud, as they say: fortunately for Gorilla Doctors, Mrs. Jess Burbridge has joined our staff to take up the communications reins from Molly. Jess spent the last year in Musanze, Rwanda, based at the Karisoke Research Center, serving as the Field Communications Officer with the Fossey Fund, where she soaked up everything she could learn about the gorillas and the people who protect and care for them. Her work with the Fossey Fund allowed her to travel frequently to DR Congo and become familiar with the Gorilla Doctors vets in both DRC and Rwanda. She is an excellent writer and outstanding photographer – you can check out some of her work here. She’ll work from her home base in Atlanta, Georgia, but of course thanks to the world wide web, will be in close touch with our Africa team 24/7.  Welcome Jess!

Jessica Burbridge, photographing Hirwa group on a rainy morning in Volcanoes National Park.

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