We are pleased to welcome four new members to the Species360 team who will work on building, modernizing and maintaining ZIMS and our business systems, which Species360 members around the world depend on. Each of the millions of records Species360 members enter into ZIMS has a purpose. Whether by veterinarians making treatment decisions, keepers checking global weight benchmarks, studbook keepers planning animal transfers, or researchers looking for patterns across decades of data. The work that goes into developing ZIMS and supporting the work of our members, requires talented people.
Joining us from Belgium, Brazil, and Colombia, Dr. An Pas, Jonathan Cruz, Mateo Contreras, and Guilherme Nichetti respectively bring a variety of experience spanning zoo and wildlife medicine, software engineering, and business systems automation.
Here’s a little more information about our newest team members:
Dr. An Pas
Dr. An Pas, a long-time ZIMS user, joined us in July as a part-time Product Analyst for ZIMS for Medical. She will work with Dr Rachel Thompson on veterinary and and biobanking topics.
An (who says she has one of the shortest names in the world) is a zoo and wildlife veterinarian, who recently returned to her home country of Belgium after more than 20 years of working and living abroad. She has a master’s degree in conservation medicine and is a diplomate in zoo health management. She has worked in a range of countries over the past 30 years, and was most recently at the New Zealand Centre for Conservation Medicine at the Auckland Zoo. Prior to that she worked at London Zoo, in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates working with endangered Arabian wildlife, in Nigeria rehabilitating rainforest primates, and several other smaller projects across the world.
Now she is looking forward to using her more than two decades of knowledge as a ZIMS for Medical (and previously MedARKS) user to further strengthen the platform and expand its conservation and animal welfare impact. In her spare time, An enjoys reading, snorkelling, tramping, and visiting art museums, as well as studying, having recently completed a post-graduate course in investigative journalism.
On what she’s looking forward to in her new role, Dr. Pas said: “As a wildlife veterinarian and long time ZIMS-user I’ve seen firsthand how quality data can make a difference for animal health and conservation. I look forward to bringing my experience to the team and helping make a global impact.”
Jonathan Cruz
Jonathan Cruz joined us as a Product Engineer who is working on ZIMS. From São Paulo, Brazil, Jonathan is a self-described science nerd, anime fan, and board game enthusiast who has been building software for 14 years including desktop, mobile, and web, in everything from C/C++ (two of the most widely used programming languages) to TypeScript, plus a detour into crypto with Solidity. Before Species360 he worked at Sydecar, an investment company. Outside of work he enjoys reading manga and playing computer games.
On why he is excited to join Species360, Jonathan said: “”I spent 14 years building software for companies. Now my work helps zoos and aquariums take care of animals, and I get to brag to my son that his dad is making the world a little better.”
Mateo Contreras
Mateo Contreras also joined us as a Product Engineer working on ZIMS. From Bogotá, Colombia, Mateo has over five years of software development experience across multiple industries. He brings a growing passion for AI and scientific research. He is currently finishing a master’s degree in Artificial Intelligence at Universidad de los Andes, because he likes understanding how things work at a deeper level, and not just making them work. Outside of work, he’s an avid traveller, swimmer, hiker, and self-proclaimed foodie who enjoys winding down with a good coffee, and books on relativity and modern physics.
He says: “I like problems that do not have an easy answer yet. That is usually where the good work is.”
Guilherme Nichetti
Guilherme Nichetti joined the Species360 team in July as a Business Systems Engineer working closely with our operations team on business systems automation. Guilherme joins us from Curitiba, Brazil, and brings more than 12 years of software development experience, having worked previously for fintech organizations. He is currently completing his postgraduate degree in Applied AI. He’s a churrasco (Brazilian BBQ) aficionado, enjoys spending time with friends and family, gaming and swimming, and has two cats named Frederico (aka Fred) and Oliver.
On joining Species360 Guilherme, says: “Before joining Species360, I was unaware that such a world existed, that technology was actively supporting conservation work happening all over the globe. It’s a whole new level of excitement, and I can’t wait to witness the impact it can have. Bringing my background in backend and automation to a team doing this kind of work feels like a really good match.”
Please join us in welcoming An, Jonathan, Mateo and Guilherme to the Species360 team!
