The Board of Directors and Committee of Tropica Verde Present Themselves...

The activities of TROPICA VERDE are based on the voluntary support of all its members. The Board and the Committee are elected by TROPICA VERDE members and represent their interests. The Committee independently supervises the Board of Directors and ensures that all activities are in compliance with the statutes and with decisions of TROPICA VERDE's members. All members of the Board of Directors ("Vorstand") and the Committee ("Vereinsausschuss") work as volunteers and do not receive any compensation for their work.

Michael Ott (born 1962) took over the chairman position of Dr. Stefan Rother on the board elections 2010. Since 1993 he has been the treasurer of TROPICA VERDE and as such responsible for the finances and membership administration. He worked in the corporate finance department of a major German bank. His focus lies on all legal matters of TROPICA VERDE.

Dr. Martin Scholz was elected vice chairman in April 2015. He studied biology at the Frankfurt University, is one of TROPICA VERDE's founders and as such member since 1989. One of the most important challenges he sees in the sustainable conservation of tropical habitats and the stabilisation of the global ecological equilibrium. Together with the TROPICA VERDE team he would like to contribute to this important task.

Alejandro Villalobos was born in Peru and lives in Frankfurt since 2008. He was impressed by the projects of TROPICA VERDE in Costa Rica and therefore he supports the work of the association as amember. Since June 2016 he joined the association as responsible treasurer for finance. He is currently studying finance in Frankfurt and works in an insurance company.

Lina Thomas was elected as the new secretary in June 2016. She studies the master "Physical Geography" in Frankfurt and therefore she stayed 3 months in Costa Rica from February to May 2016. There she got to know the projects closer and socialize with the project partners. On the reserve " Finca Curré " of TROPICA VERDE she collected geographic data for her master's thesis.

Heribert Becker supports TROPICA VERDE since long. He has visited TROPICA VERDE's projects several times and became a member of the Committee (Vereinsausschuss) in 2014.

He is dedicated to the subject of sustainable tourism.











Gabriele Schaar-von Römer has been member of TROPICA VERDE for a long time and was  elected member of the Committee in June 2013. She works in the "Umweltzentrum" (Environmental Center) of the City of Hanau and is responsible for educational activities there as well as the buildup of the herd of wild Przewalski horses on the Campo Pond area, former training area of the U.S. Forces. Between November 2012 and March 2013 she successfully managed the Information Office.

Kai-Sören Kehrmann supports TROPICA VERDE since many years as member. In June 2016 he was elected as member of the Committee. He wants to support the fundraising activities and the public relation of the association.

Janina von Römer (born 1984) has taken over the position as head of the information office of TROPICA VERDE from Jennifer Gatzke. Janina von Römer studied Cultural Anthropology and Southeast Asian Studies in Frankfurt, with a specialization on sustainable tourism in developing countries. As a PhD-student in Cultural Anthropology she shares the enthusiasm for foreign countries and cultures as well as the consciousness for current problems concerning development politics and the conservation of the natural environment. Her interests lie in a combined consideration of ecological and cultural aspects of sustainable development. As head of the information office she serves amongst other things as contact person for volunteers, members, sponsors and for those interested in the work of TROPICA VERDE. Janina von Römer is a part-time employee of TROPICA VERDE.

Katrin Lehmann (born in1987) got interested in TROPICA VERDE because of its link of natur, environmental education and Costa Rica. She first supported Tropica Verde as a volunteer and now substitutes Andrea Kraljevic during maternity leave in the field of project coordination. Her love for Costa Rica and its culture was found during a larger lingustical stay. She studied „Environmental Management and Sustainable Development“ at the University of Vienna (Austria) in view of the realization of evironment-related projects in development cooperation. She advocates for the enhancement of communication of different aspects regarding sustainability as well as a larger understanding of global interactions between society and environment. Meanwhile she absolves extra-occupationally a training course on „art education“ for being able to transport the mentioned contents in a creative way. She gained her experience mainly in not-university related organisations by internships and volunteer work in different institutions which dedicated their work to topics around environment, development cooperation and other topics which influence a sustainable development.

Andrea Kraljevic is responsible for the coordination of our Costa Rican projects. She is trained as a Conservation Biologist having studied at universities in the US. She has worked for WWF Germany and National Audubon Society (the US representative in the BirdLife International global network) coordinating networks and conservation projects. With a German mother and a Bolivian father, she grew up in Washington DC speaking English, German, and Spanish. From an early age, she has been traveling extensively throughout Latin America, having also lived in Sao Paulo, Brazil where she learned Portuguese. She is employed as freelance consultant. Andrea is on maternity leave since end of May 2014.