Meet the Annamitici
Update: Many of you know that Rhishja volunteered tirelessly as the Founder and Creative Director of Annamiticus from 2012 to 2022.
Today, Rhishja designs t-shirts and stickers at her shop snoots + teefers, and she also freelances as a consultant with a US-based IT firm.
While a consultant with USAID Wildlife Asia from 2017 – 2021, Rhishja developed and implemented the Pangolin Species Identification materials project. It was there that she worked on the Countering Transnational Organized Crime (CTOC) online training course and served as one of the Editors for the CTOC Instructor Manual. In 2019, she also took on a short-term contract as the Online Toolkit Editor for the European Union Network for the Implementation of Environmental Law’s SPIDER WEB: Strategic Project to Increase the Detection and Disruption of Environmental Crime in the Western Balkans.
Rhishja Cota, Founder, Creative Director
Rhishja is the Founder and Creative Director of Annamiticus. She is currently a consultant with a US-based IT firm. She worked as a consultant with USAID Wildlife Asia from May 2017 until June 2021, where she authored the Pangolin Species Identification Guide and was a key organizer of the first-of-its-kind pangolin care workshop in Thailand. Fun fact: Rhishja founded World Pangolin Day in 2012!
Rhishja has been researching and writing about wildlife trafficking since 2009. She hosted the Behind the Schemes podcast from 2012 – 2017. In 2011, she wrote and published the book Murder, Myths & Medicine.
She has journeyed to the streets of Hanoi to research the illegal wildlife trade, to the rainforests of Sumatra and Java to document the world’s rarest rhinos, and has trekked with wildlife protection rangers in Cambodia. At CITES meetings, Rhishja advocates in favor of protecting endangered species from economic exploitation and scrutinizes the abuse of trade loopholes.
Rhishja served as Vice President of the Tucson Herpetological Society from 2017 – 2019. She has written for National Geographic’s News Blog – News Watch and the environmental news blog Planetsave.
She is a Stanford Certified Project Manager (Stanford Center for Professional Development, Stanford University) and received her BA degree in Government from California State University, Sacramento.
Salvatore Amato, Advisor, Wildlife Law Enforcement Liaison
Salvatore Amato is a recognized expert in domestic and international wildlife and environmental law and enforcement. Mr. Amato has over twenty-four years’ experience in the field of wildlife law enforcement, with experience at both the state and federal level. He is the founder of SMA Consulting, which provides advice, expertise and services related to Environmental Regulation and Compliance; Wildlife Law Enforcement; and International Training and Capacity Building.
Mr. Amato’s distinguished career includes eleven years of experience as a senior manager with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) with experience at both the headquarters and regional office levels. Mr. Amato is a nationally recognized expert on the Endangered Species Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the Eagle Protection Act, the Lacey Act, and the Tiger Rhino Protection Act.
Mr. Amato has extensive experience in natural resource and habitat conservation, wildlife trade issues, port operations, compliance and regulation including implementation of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Mr. Amato has a strong background in receiving and providing training in team building, coaching, strategic and workforce planning as well as extensive experience in International training and capacity building, both from his time as the Head of the USFWS Intelligence Unit and as a member of the INTERPOL Environmental and Wildlife Crimes Working Groups.
Quyen Vu, Vietnam Liaison
Quyen Vu is the founder of Education for Nature-Vietnam (ENV), Vietnam’s first non-governmental organization focused on the conservation of wildlife and the environment.
Since its inception in 2000, ENV has conducted more than 70 environmental education and communication training programs for teachers, community stakeholder groups and staff from national parks and protected areas throughout Vietnam. ENV has also trained educators from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos. ENV’s Wildlife Crime Unit (WCU) was established in 2005 to facilitate and motivate public involvement in efforts to combat wildlife trade, and administers a public toll-free national hotline for reporting wildlife crimes.
Lisa Hywood, Zimbabwe Liaison
Lisa is the founder of the Tikki Hywood Trust in Zimbabwe, named in memory of her late father, Tikki Hywood. Lisa chose to be a voice for lesser-known wild animals such as Lichtenstein’s hartebeest, Cape Pangolin and other smaller species. She is a founding member of the African Pangolin Working Group and a member of the IUCN/SSC Pangolin Specialist Group. Lisa and her team are leading the way in pangolin rescue and rehabilitation in Africa.