Jean was born in South Africa, but spent her childhood in national parks in Malawi, Tanzania and Kenya. Having been brought up in the conservation world instilled in Jean a deep passion for nature conservation, which led her to complete her Honours in Conservation and Ecology at the University of Stellenbosch. Jean joined African Parks in Zakouma National Park in Chad in 2012, before moving on to Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2014 as Special Projects Manager, where she was based for four years. Over the past year Jean has been working remotely as a Project Manager to drive the review of the SOP’s and support the park strategic planning process. Jean is now based out of APs Head Office and oversees the Conservation Development & Assurance department, responsible for new project development and assuring organisational consistency and performance management.