Collen joined Maliasili with a community-based natural resources management experience spanning some 15 years back. He started as a high school Geography teacher in the late 1990s before enrolling for a Masters in Social Ecology at the University of Zimbabwe that focuses on social aspects of Natural Resources Management, and later for a Ph.D. in environmental economics with the University of Cape Town. Taught natural resources management at university for a couple of years before joining full-time conservation intervention work, first under the university of Zimbabwe, and since 2018 under African Wildlife Foundation. He is passionate about improving the wellbeing of communities living near or with wildlife and has led interventions focused on livelihood improvements, human-wildlife conflict mitigation, entrepreneurship development, wildlife protection through supporting community scouts, growing and supporting community-based initiatives and organizations, and supporting cross-border collaborations, among others. Has been part of the team that led the review of the CAMPFIRE program in Zimbabwe and is working diligently to see the devolution of powers to the wildlife producer communities.