Deputy Chair

Dr Rima Jabado is the Deputy Chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) and Chair of the IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group. As a scientist and conservationist, she has spent over 20 years developing and working on conservation initiatives globally. Her work focuses on bridging the gap between science and policy to ensure issues such as bycatch, threatened species conservation, and illegal trade are tackled. Her research has been instrumental in influencing decision makers to implement meaningful measures for the protection of species across a range of fisheries. She is now leading the Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRA) project to ensure sharks, rays, and chimaeras are considered in area-based management initiatives around the world. She is a member of the IUCN Marine Conservation Committee, serves as the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) Appointed Scientific Councilor for Fish, and sits on the Advisory Committee for the CMS Sharks Memorandum of Understanding as the representative of the Asia region. She has also founded the Elasmo Project, a non-profit initiative that encourages and supports work in data-poor areas focused on investigating shark and ray fisheries and trade.

Amanda Vincent is the Chair of the SSC Marine Conservation Committee. She is firmly convinced that we know enough to tackle conservation problems now, even if more information might be valuable.

Axel Hochkirch is an associate professor in the Department of Biogeography at Trier University, Germany. He is an expert in insect biodiversity and conservation genetics, and the author or co-author of ca. 180 publications dealing with a broad field of biodiversity-related topics.

Dr. Axel Moehrenschlager is the Director of Conservation & Science at the Wilder Institute, Adjunct Professor at the U. of Calgary/Canada, Adjunct Associate Professor at Clemson U./USA , Erskine Fellow at U. of Canterbury/NZ, and Research Associate at Oxford University/UK where he received his PhD. Axel is the Chair of the IUCN SSC Conservation Translocation Specialist Group, which advances guidance, science, policy, training, and action for conservation translocations to help species, ecosystems, and people worldwide. Axel's Calgary team also specializes in Community Conservation to yield simultaneous benefits for biodiversity conservation and human livelihood in areas such West and East Africa as well as Madagascar. In related capacities Axel serves on the Technical Advisory Committee of the United Nations Equator Prize and as Board Trustee of the UK-based St. Andrews Prize for the Environment.

Dr Dilys Roe is the biodiversity lead at the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) – a UK-based sustainable development think tank – and Chair of the CEESP-SSC Sustainable Use and Livelihoods Specialist Group (SULi). She has a PhD in Biodiversity Management from the Durrell Institute (DICE), University of Kent. Her work focuses on the human dimensions of conservation – including understanding and supporting the necessary conditions for effective community-based conservation  - and on integrating biodiversity into climate and development policy. She has over 25 years of experience with a geographical focus predominantly – though not exclusively - on East and Southern Africa. Dilys is a member of the UK Government Darwin Expert Committee and Illegal Wildlife Trade Advisory Group and the Scottish First Ministers Environment Council. She is also a Trustee of Resource Africa and a member of the Programme Committee of WWF-UK and Conservation Committee of the Durrell Wildlife and Conservation Trust.

Ehab is an expert in terrestrial and marine biodiversity conservation, zoology, CITES and protected areas management from Jordan and the West Asia region. Holds a master's degree in conservation, access and management of species in trade from the International University of Andalucía, Spain, and a B.Sc degree in biological science from the University of Jordan. Ehab Eid developed his experience and knowledge in marine and terrestrial biodiversity as a research assistant at the Marine Science Station of Jordan from 2001 till 2005, followed by the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature from 2005 until 2013, as the head of research and survey section, and then as the Director of the Royal Marine Conservation Society of Jordan. Currently, he is working as a freelance consultant supporting various international and national entities in advisory works in the environmental field, strategy development, biodiversity conservation, protected areas management planning and fundraising. He has led several training workshops, aiming to raise the skills and knowledge of Middle East conservationist in research methodologies, biodiversity conservation, climate change and protected areas management and has published several peer-reviewed articles, guides and books. His recent publications are the Red List book of Jordan’s mammals, and the hard corals guide of Jordan. In addition, he has contributed to several Red List assessments for mammals and reptiles in the Arabian Peninsula and authored several chapters in regional and international bodies such as GEO6 report of West Asia.

Gabriela Lichtenstein is the Regional Vice-Chair for Meso and South America. Gabriela has a MSc in Biology, University of Buenos Aires (1992) and completed a PhD in Behavioral Ecology, King´s College, University of Cambridge (1997) and a Post-doc at the Dept of Geography, University of Buenos Aires (2001).

Gregory Mueller serves as Negaunee Foundation vice president of science at the Chicago Botanic Garden. Before joining the Garden, Dr Mueller worked for more than 23 years at The Field Museum as the curator of mycology in the Department of Botany.

Ian Harrison obtained his Ph.D. in systematic ichthyology at the University of Bristol, UK. He has conducted research on marine and freshwater fishes from several parts of the world.

Dr Jean-Christophe Vié is Director General of Fondation Franklinia, a foundation dedicated to the conservation of threatened tree species. He joined the foundation in January 2018 after 17 years working for the IUCN Secretariat. His involvement with the Species Survival Commission started 25 years ago. In the year 2000, Jean-Christophe joined the IUCN Secretariat as coordinator of its programme in Guinea Bissau. In 2001, he moved to IUCN Headquarters where he became Deputy Director of its Global Species Programme. He developed and supervised a number of programmes including regional and global biodiversity assessments and the assessment of climate change impact. He also coordinated IUCN input for international agreements (in particular the Convention on Migratory Species) and supported the SSC network. He also developed initiatives supporting conservation action on the ground such as SOS-Save Our Species and the Integrated Tiger Habitat Conservation Programme. Before working with IUCN, Jean-Christophe gained field experience in various parts of the world where he spent 15 years overall. He started his career as a wildlife veterinarian with a main focus on primates. He then completed a PhD in ecology. He worked on a wide variety of species such Arabian Oryx, marine turtles, manatees, giant otters, black caimans, primates and snakes. He was also involved in the design and management of protected areas, public awareness campaigns and studies on the impact of logging and hunting. He interacted with a variety of stakeholders such as indigenous communities, local governments and administrations, logging companies, hunters, dam builders, fisheries and the private sector in general. He created a nature conservation NGO (Kwata), still active in French Guiana where he spent 8 years. He is a French and Swiss national and is the author of a number of scientific articles and several books including analyses of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Luigi Boitani is the Chair of the IUCN SSC Large Carnivore Initiative for Europe. Luigi is Professor Emeritus at the University of Rome - Sapienza, where he has been teaching Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology for over 30 years and Head of the Department of Animal and Human Biology for 10 years.

As wildlife ecologist, Mirza focuses on the conservation of amphibians and reptiles in tropical forest ecosystems. She also doing research on the trade in amphibians and reptiles, and human wildlife conflicts. In the last 15 years, Mirza has been heavily involved in mainstreaming amphibian and reptile research in Indonesia and has encouraged capacity building of young researchers in the field of herpetology. Mirza was one of the founders of the Herpetological Society of Indonesia and the initiator of the citizen science project “Our Amphibian Reptile Observation Movement” or GO ARK which aims to improve amphibian and reptile distribution data using citizen science as a tool. Mirza is also active with the Species Survival Commission, IUCN. She is a member of SSC amphibian specialist group, member of the Steering Committee of SSC-IUCN and Regional Vice Chair for South and East Asia, SSC-IUCN.

Nunia Thomas-Moko is a passionate advocate for the conservation of Fiji’s natural heritage and environmental sustainability. In 2007 Nunia joined the newly formed NatureFiji-MareqetiViti - Fiji’s only local membership-based organisation working solely for the conservation and sustainable use of Fiji’s biodiversity. In 2008, the organisation published Nunia’s first project: The Endangered Species of Fiji Compendium, and she has been instrumental in its early years of development. NatureFiji-MareqetiViti has since become the most active terrestrial biodiversity conservation organization in Fiji, responsible for 10 of the 12 active endangered species conservation projects currently being undertaken in Fiji. In 2013 she was appointed Director, a position she currently holds, leading a team of 10 early career professionals in biodiversity conservation, species research and conservation action, advocacy, community engagement and policy contributions. Nunia has conducted over 40 assessments of Fijian herpetofauna biodiversity, over 12 scientific publications and was a recipient of the 2nd Pacific Islands Environment Leadership Awards in 2020 (National leadership in environmental sustainability & conservation award).

Onnie Byers earned her Ph.D. in reproductive physiology from the University of Minnesota and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Smithsonian Institution's National Zoo in Washington D.C. 

Dr Paul Smith is the Secretary General of Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI). BGCI is the largest plant conservation network in the world, comprising 650 member institutions in 100 countries. With a career spanning 25 years in conservation, Paul joined BGCI as Secretary General in March 2015. During his time at BGCI, the organisation has launched a global botanic garden accreditation scheme, published two new global databases (ThreatSearch and GlobalTreeSearch), grown its membership by >70%, and disbursed over $10 million to support botanic gardens around the world. In addition, BGCI has opened new regional offices in Kenya and Singapore, and its International Advisory Council has established itself as the senior voice of the global botanic garden community. Prior to joining BGCI, Paul was Head of the Royal Botanic Garden, Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank (MSB). During his nine years at the helm there, seeds from >25,000 plant species were conserved in the MSB and, in 2009, the MSB achieved its first significant milestone, securing seed from 10% of the world’s plant species, prioritising rare, threatened and useful plants. Paul trained as a plant ecologist, and is a specialist in the plants and vegetation of southern Africa. He is a Trustee of the National Botanic Garden of Wales, Chairman of England’s Arboreta Advisory Committee and is the recipient of the New England Wildflower Society’s Medal for Services to International Plant Conservation and the David Fairchild Medal for Plant Exploration.

Piero Genovesi, PhD, Head of wildlife service with the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, Chair of the IUCN SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group and member of the Steering Committee of the IUCN Species Survival Commission, collaborates with many international organizations, including the UN Convention on Biological Diversity and the European Commission. International Science Advisor for the Center for Invasion Biology, Stellenbosch University, South Africa. Author of books and scientific articles published in the most prestigious journals in the world, in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 included in Highly Cited Researchers list by Web of Science.

Russell A. Mittermeier is currently Chief Conservation Officer of Re:wild (formerly Global Wildlife Conservation), a position he has occupied since 2017. Prior to this position, he served for three years as Executive Vice Chair at Conservation International and as President of that organization from 1989 to 2014. Trained as a primatologist and herpetologist, he has traveled widely in 169 countries on seven continents and has conducted field work in more than 30 − focusing particularly on Amazonia (especially Brazil and Suriname), the Atlantic forest region of Brazil, and Madagascar. Since 1977, Mittermeier has served as Chairman of the IUCN Species Survival Commission Primate Specialist Group, and he has been a member of the Steering Committee of the Species Survival Commission since 1982.

Former Minister of Sustainable Development for the Government of the State of Morelos in Central Mexico. For the past 36 years he has been Professor of ichthyology and Conservation Biology at the Autonomous University of the State Morelos, in central Mexico, where he is head of the Conservation Biology work group. His main research interests are thus related to freshwater ecosystems and endangered fish species conservation. He is involved in many international organizations: he is a founder and Regional Coordinator for Mesoamerica of the IUCN/SSC Freshwater Fish Specialist Group; he is Co-Chair of the IUCN/SSC Freshwater Conservation Committee and serves as a member of the Steering Committee of the Species Survival Commission at IUCN. He is also representative for Latin America of the International Association of Protected Areas (IAPA) based in China.

Vivek Menon is a leading Indian wildlife conservationist, environmental commentator, author, photographer and policy think tank with a passion for elephants. Founder of five environmental and nature conservation organisations, Menon spearheads Wildlife Trust of India as its Founder, Executive Director since 1998 building it from a three-member organization to one of India’s best wildlife NGOs. Menon is the current Councillor of the IUCN, Deputy Chair of the IUCN- Species Survival Commission and Chair of the IUCN Asian Elephant Specialist Group, a Member of the Advisory Board of the IUCN Strategic Initiative on the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, a Member of the Species Survival Commission Steering Committee and Member of the Conservation Translocation Specialist Group of IUCN with over 25 years serving on various Specialist Groups on the Asian Rhino, Cat, Threatened Waterfowl and Medicinal Plants. His overt and covert enforcement work to combat illegal wildlife trade has won him the 2019 Clark R Bavin Award. The 2018 Whitley Continuation Award, the 2017 Round Glass Samsara Lifetime Achievement Award and the 2001 Rufford Award for International Conservation for his work to conserve the Asian elephant are some other international recognitions for his conservation action. Menon is the author or editor of ten wildlife books including the bestselling Indian Mammals- A Field Guide, scores of technical reports and more than 250 articles in various scientific and popular publications. Bridging core conservation, policy, business and biodiversity, he serves on a number of governmental and non-governmental boards and committees; as an Advisory Council Member of the CII-ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development; member of the Elephant Task Force of the Ministry of Environment and Forests that suggested a complete revamp of India’s elephant conservation strategy; in the past on the Project Elephant Steering Committee, National Wildlife Action Plan Committee, CITES Advisory Committee, Governing Council of the Central Zoo Authority, member of the Ridge Management Board, under Govt. of Delhi, and a member of several State Advisory Boards for Wildlife. An intrepid traveler, Menon has visited over a 100 countries, walking wild lands in over half of these and addressing audiences internationally in over 30 countries, including parliamentarians in UK and Australia.

Dr Yan XIE is Associate Research Professor in the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Steering Committee Member, Species Survival Commission (SSC/IUCN) and Chair of IUCN SSC China Species Specialist Group (ChSSG). She is also the Founder of the Protected Area Friendly System and Chief Scientist of the International Network of Protected Areas. She was of China Programme Director of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). Her special interests include biodiversity conservation and protected area management. She published books of China’s Protected Areas, China Species Redlist, A Field Guide to the Mammals of China and Biodiversity Atlas of China.

Barney Long is the Senior Director of Conservation Strategies at Re:wild where he oversees all the species conservation efforts. He works on the conservation of highly endangered species and the site and thematic approaches required to achieve the recovery of their populations.

Ana is Head of Species Conservation Action at IUCN Global Species Programme. She is part of the Global Species Programme, leading the work of species conservation action, including the management of the Save Our Species grant making mechanism & Integrated Tiger Habitat Conservation Programme.