One bird, one team

The people behind the work.

Friends of Save Shoebill in South Carolina raises the funds. Save Shoebill Conservation Project in Uganda does the work on the water. Caleigh Cross tells the story online so more people can help.

Ryan Burke, president of Friends of Save Shoebill, with a handmade Shoebill

United States

Ryan Burke

Ryan is president of Friends of Save Shoebill Conservation Project, the U.S. 501(c)(3) that lets American donors support Shoebill conservation with a tax-deductible gift. He and his wife, Nicole, run the organization from the Charleston / Summerville area of South Carolina.

They took on the nonprofit after moving to Summerville and have kept overhead low so nearly every dollar can go to Uganda. Ryan organizes the public fundraising, including the sanctuary land campaign, and handles the U.S. side so Kenneth’s team can stay in the papyrus.

Kenneth Tumusiime, founder of Save Shoebill Conservation Project, with a camera in the field

Uganda

Kenneth Tumusiime

Kenneth is founder, CEO, and board chair of the Save Shoebill Conservation Project. He lives in Nyabushozi, near Lake Mburo National Park, and has spent more than sixteen years as a bird guide and boat captain across Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda.

His work with Shoebills began on the water at Murchison Falls, where he started as a trainee site guide in 2008. After years watching fishermen and disturbance push birds off the Albert Delta, and after helping rescue a captured Shoebill, he founded SSCP in 2019 as a community project — education, monitoring, and habitat, not a fly-in takeover.

He still guides through African Birding Journeys and still prefers the boat to the office. His favorite bird is the Shoebill.

Caleigh Cross, Social Media Manager for Friends of Save Shoebill

Social Media Manager

Caleigh Cross

Caleigh Cross manages social media for Save Shoebill. A former journalist, photographer, and corporate communications professional, she is studying and practicing science communication at a graduate level at the University of Maryland, Baltimore with a focus on conservation. She loves telling the stories of endangered species. Her favourite bird is the shoebill for its quiet beauty, its grace, its family life, and its unique adaptations to its hot wetland life in Uganda. When she's not managing our social media, she's flying airplanes, diving, or riding a motorcycle on winding roads.

Photos: Ryan Burke, Kenneth Tumusiime / Save Shoebill Conservation Project, and Caleigh Cross.