Who’s Involved

Dr. Dave Augeri has 35 years of expertise in endangered and rare species, biodiversity, habitats, and ecosystems around the world, along with the design and designation of protected areas. He is a member and advisor to the World Commission on Protected Areas, IUCN, UNESCO, and various SSC Specialist Groups and Expert Teams, among other entities.

Bruce Beehler is an ornithologist and naturalist with professional affiliations with the Smithsonian Institution and the American Bird Conservancy. After a long career focused on forests and birds of the Asia Pacific Region, he now focuses on the natural history of North America. His most recent book, published by Princeton, is entitled New Guinea--Nature and Culture of Earth's Grandest Island.

Dr. Dominick A. DellaSala, Chief Scientist at Wild Heritage and former President of the Society for Conservation Biology, North America, is an internationally renowned author of over 250 peer-reviewed papers and books on forests and climate change.

Rodolfo Dirzo, a Professor at Stanford University, teaches Ecology, Conservation Science, and Bio-Cultural Diversity. His research includes evolution of plant defenses, plant and animal extinction, and how this affects ecosystem services and human wellbeing. His work is conducted in Latin America, the Central Pacific, East Africa, and Northern California. His research involves local indigenous and rural communities from the countries where he works.

Erica’s research focuses on ecological responses to changes in land use, land cover, and climate in the western United States. She also contributes to conservation planning for threatened species on public and private lands.

David is retired from teaching at the University of Maryland, and active in long-term research at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, where he has worked since 1971 on wildflowers and pollinators.

Adrian began his career as a tropical field conservationist active since 1971. He earned his PhD with EO Wilson, and is the founder of three Conservation NG0s and the Andes Amazon Initiative at Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. He is founder and a strategic advisor at Andes Amazon Fund.

Dr.Jhala is the Senior Professor and Dean at the Wildlife Institute of India, Union Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change. His primary research has focused in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and some in Sri Lanka (all kinds of ecoregions in these areas). Primarily his research has been on carnivores and ungulates and covers aspects of conservation biology, behavior, conservation genetics, demography, landscape status surveys, and eco-physiology.

Dr. Jenkins studies the conservation of biodiversity and efforts to protect and restore tropical ecosystems. Specializing in using spatial analysis and remote sensing to answer conservation questions, his research has taken him to the Brazilian Atlantic Forests, Florida Everglades, Central America, and across the Amazon.

Marcella Kelly studies predator demography and is interested in co-existence ecology, especially of wild felids. She uses a variety of techniques including remote cameras, genetic sampling, and GPS collars.

Dr. Gary Krupnick is a research scientist studying plant conservation biology and plant-pollinator interactions. He has conducted conservation assessments of plants of Pacific Islands, the Caribbean, and Central and South America.

Dr. John (Jack) Longino specializes in tropical insect diversity and has coordinated large-scale biodiversity inventory projects in Central America. His research focus is on the taxonomy and ecology of Neotropical ants, and he was an early promoter of web-based dissemination of biodiversity data.

Pete Lowry, Director of the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Africa and Madagascar Program, studies the evolution and classification of plants and several tropical floras (Madagascar, New Caledonia), and also coordinates MBG’s extensive research and conservation work in Madagascar.

Dr. Binbin Li is the IUCN Species Survival Commission expert and associate editor of Frontiers of Ecology and Evolution. She serves on the editorial board of Conservation Biology, Global Ecology and Conservation and Biodiversity Science. Her research focuses on identifying pathways and synergy between biodiversity conservation and sustainable development, including priority setting and management of protected areas, how human disturbances and climate change influence endangered and endemic species and vertebrate community composition.

Dr. Karen Lips is Professor of Biology at the University of Maryland. She is an ecologist, specializing on causes and impacts of global change, and impacts on natural ecosystems and human well-being.

Lina is an ecologist with over 15 years experience in bird ecology and biodiversity conservation; her current work focuses on integrating monitoring and citizen science data for decision making at different scales.

Peter Marra uses birds to help define and understand broad environmental issues, tackling contemporary conservation challenges by addressing fundamental knowledge gaps at the intersection of ornithology, ecology, and conservation biology.

Rodrigo is a Senior Professor at UNAM´s Institute of Ecology, working on mammal conservation in Mexico and 16 other countries. He has produced over 250 publications, presided various societies and represented Mexico before CITES and other MEAs. BBC, National Geographic, etc. have covered his work.

Dr. Reed Noss is a conservation writer and photographer. He is an Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, former Editor-in-Chief, Conservation Biology, and Past-President of the Society for Conservation Biology.

Mike Parr joined ABC in 1996 after graduating from the University of East Anglia, UK, and working for BirdLife International. He has coauthored several books including: Parrots - A Guide to the Parrots of the World, Important Bird Areas in the United States, and The American Bird Conservancy Guide to Bird Conservation, along with numerous articles and papers. He is Chair of the Alliance for Zero Extinction and a member of the Board of Directors of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative.

Dr. Maria Tapia is an Ecuadorian researcher interested in the study of land use and land cover change, geographical species distribution and its relationship with landscape dynamics and conservation at landscape level. She is a faculty member of the Biological and Agricultural Science department at the Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja in the subjects of Landscape Ecology, Global Change, Geographical Information Systems, Ecology and Climate Change.

Stuart Pimm holds the Doris Duke Chair of Conservation at Duke University and is a leading authority on species extinctions and how to prevent them. His honours included the Tyler, Heineken, and Cosmos Prizes.

Michael Proctor has researched grizzly bears in British Columbia Canada for 25 years. His uses landscape genetics and GPS telemetry to inform connectivity, habitat, ecological modeling, and human-wildlife conflicts. He’s also involved in conservation efforts of bear species internationally.

Dr. Ursula Valdez (she/hers) is Peruvian-USA tropical avian ecologist interested in the study of species interactions and community ecology in the Neotropical regions, and more recently in the PNW. She is teaching faculty at the University of Washington Bothell where she teaches Ecology, Natural History, field ecology, conservation, and sustainability. She also spends time in the Peruvian Amazon collecting data on bird ecology and diversity and training students in field ecology and conservation of tropical rainforest. She combines her teaching activities with hands-on field experiences, study abroad programs and interdisciplinary collaborations with colleagues and students around the world

Carly works with the QRFN Staff, Executive Committee, Expert Advisory Panel, funders, and grantees to ensure strong operations and governance. She brings a background in conservation biology and experience in assembling diverse partnerships to design, fund, and implement successful conservation programs. Carly is the Chief Program Officer at RESOLVE and Director of its Conservation Solutions program. Prior to joining RESOLVE, Carly was the Director of Wildlife and Habitat Conservation at the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

Eric brings more than four decades of hands-on experience saving endangered large mammals and tropical rainforest habitat to the QRFN. He is currently CEO of Nightjar and a Senior Expert on RESOLVE’s Conservation Solutions team.

Don Weeden is an internationally-known conservation leader who served for over 20 years as Executive Director of the Weeden Foundation, an international organization that supports a wide range of programs that aim to preserve biodiversity. He co-founded QRFN in 2015 and brings extensive experience in environmental conservation and philanthropy.

Sanjiv manages proposal reviews, new project development, and administration for QRFN. He collaborates with the Expert Advisory Panel to vet applications, supports prospective partners in developing new projects in priority areas, and oversees contracts and reporting with grantees. Additionally, Sanjiv manages reporting to QRFN's funders and works alongside the Executive Committee on fundraising efforts. With a background in Environmental Science & Policy, he brings expertise in protecting critical habitats for threatened species and has experience working with communities to reduce human-wildlife conflict and poaching.

Andy coordinates project inquiries and proposal reviews for QRFN. He brings a background in conservation biology and policy sciences. Prior to joining RESOLVE and QRFN, his research experience includes on human-wildlife coexistence, illegal wildlife trade, and large carnivore reintroductions.