Grace
and Paul Yoxon arrived on Skye 28 years ago as geology students
from Keele University, fell in love with the island and returned
to study its wildlife. When islanders started to bring them orphaned
baby otters and older otters injured in road accidents, the Yoxons
decided to devote their lives to the survival of these animals,
and founded the International Otter Survival Fund (IOSF). Since
1985 they have rescued, rehabilitated and successfully returned
more than 100 otters to the wild. They support otter conservation
worldwide, with current projects in Kenya, Uganda, Chile, Nepal
and Cambodia.
Nicole Duplaix
Nicole has more than 30 years’ activity in environmental
sciences, including international conservation and coordination
of endangered species and habitat programs. She has extensive
international record in scientific field research (comparative
ecology, behavior and conservation of otter species and other endangered
carnivores, phylogeny, evolution and behavior)and coordination
of worldwide information systems (electronic, film and print). She
has written six books, over 60 publications, 150 presentations,
and three web sites. She is a National
Geographic (Image
Collection) contract photographer and writer, and has traveled
to more than 123 countries. Nicole was founder and first
Chairman (and currently Deputy Chair and leader of the Smooth Otter
Taskforce) of the IUCN/SSC
Otter Specialist Group, and co-founder of IUCN-SSC TRAFFIC.
Nicole currently teaches at Oregon State University.
Carol Bennetto
Carol has had a love for otters since she was a child when she and her father would cycle into the countryside and wait to see the otters . They often saw them on the river Wylye in Wiltshire, until one day the otter hunt passed by ... then the otters were gone. Carol has worked at an otter centre for 25 years in education and retail, attends BIAZA education meetings, and goes on 'otter' holidays to various parts of the world. She has been to Karanambu in South America twice. "I really felt it a privelege to stay with Diane McTurkand the Giant Otters. It was such a experience, to be able to spend time with such a remarkable lady and such wonderful giant otters. I can't wait to return". This year (Spring 2009) she helped run a workshop in Cambodia, training students in otter research from Vietnam, Thailand, India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia and of course Cambodia. Ten of those attendees have now started research in the north and south of the country.
Lesley Wright
Lesley's main interest is in otter behaviour, especially
of the Asian Small-Clawed Otter. She is a member of the Otter
Specialist Group's Captive Otter Taskforce, and contributed to the
OSG's husbandry standards for small-claws. She coordinated a
review paper on knowledge of the Hairy-Nosed Otter. She works with Daphne Neville as an animal presenter with Asian Small-Clawed Otter ambassadors. Lesley also
provides IT support for various otter websites as she has 30 years
experience as a database analyst programmer at a high energy physics
laboratory.
race
and Paul Yoxon arrived on Skye 28 years ago as geology students
from Keele University, fell in love with the island and returned
to study its wildlife. When islanders started to bring them orphaned
baby otters and older otters injured in road accidents, the Yoxons
decided to devote their lives to the survival of these animals,
and founded the 
Nicole has more than 30 years’ activity in environmental
sciences, including international conservation and coordination
of endangered species and habitat programs. She has extensive
international record in scientific field research (comparative
ecology, behavior and conservation of otter species and other endangered
carnivores, phylogeny, evolution and behavior)and coordination
of worldwide information systems (electronic, film and print). She
has written six books, over 60 publications, 150 presentations,
and three web sites. She is a National
Geographic (Image
Collection) contract photographer and writer, and has traveled
to more than 123 countries. Nicole was founder and first
Chairman (and currently Deputy Chair and leader of the Smooth Otter
Taskforce) of the 
Carol has had a love for otters since she was a child when she and her father would cycle into the countryside and wait to see the otters . They often saw them on the river Wylye in Wiltshire, until one day the otter hunt passed by ... then the otters were gone. Carol has worked at an otter centre for 25 years in education and retail, attends BIAZA education meetings, and goes on 'otter' holidays to various parts of the world. She has been to Karanambu in South America twice. "I really felt it a privelege to stay with 
Lesley's main interest is in otter behaviour, especially
of the Asian Small-Clawed Otter. She is a member of the