Jane Goodall, Ph.D., DBE
Founder, the Jane Goodall Institute &UN Messenger of Peace
Keynote Speaker
In July 1960, Jane Goodall began her landmark study of chimpanzee behavior in what is now Tanzania. Her work at Gombe Stream would become the foundation of future primatological research and redefine the relationship between humans and animals.
In 1977, Dr. Goodall established the Jane Goodall Institute, which continues the Gombe research and is a global leader in the effort to protect chimpanzees and their habitats. The Institute is widely recognized for innovative, community-centered conservation and development programs in Africa, and Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots, the global environmental and humanitarian youth program.
Dr. Goodall founded Roots & Shoots with a group of Tanzanian students in 1991. Today, Roots & Shoots connects hundreds of thousands of youth in more than 130 countries who take action to make the world a better place for people, animals and the environment.
Dr. Goodall travels an average 300 days per year, speaking about the threats facing chimpanzees, other environmental crises, and her reasons for hope that humankind will solve the problems it has imposed on the earth. Dr. Goodall’s honors include the French Legion of Honor, the Medal of Tanzania, and Japan’s prestigious Kyoto Prize. In 2002, Dr. Goodall was appointed to serve as a United Nations Messenger of Peace and in 2003, she was named a Dame of the British Empire.
For more information about Dr. Goodall and the work of the Jane Goodall Institute, please visit www.janegoodall.org
Twitter: @janegoodallinst
Facebook: www.facebook.com/janegoodall
Photo credit: Morten Bjarnhof / GANT
William Robichaud
Saola Working Group
William Robichaud is the founding coordinator of the Saola Working Group of the IUCN Species Survival Commission. The saola is a mysterious and highly endangered hoofed mammal, which was discovered by scientists only in 1992. This beautiful animal lives only in dense forests of Laos and Vietnam, and is probably the largest animal in the world that has never been seen in the wild by a biologist, prompting its nickname, “Asian unicorn.” William has been engaged in wildlife conservation projects in Southeast Asia since 1994, variously for the Wildlife Conservation Society, WWF, Fauna & Flora International, IUCN and the Lao government. He is a native of Wisconsin, and holds degrees in Zoology from the University of Wisconsin and the University of British Columbia. William is currently a staff conservation biologist for Global Wildlife Conservation.
Omar Vidal
World Wildlife Fund (Vaquita)
Omar, a scientist with 30 years of field work and international conservation experience, has worked throughout the world with universities, the United Nations and NGOs. He has studied and published extensively about aquatic mammals and the vaquita in the Gulf of California. He has dedicated half of his life to saving this porpoise from extinction. Omar also worked on marine conservation in Latin America, Africa, Europe and West Asia. Since 2003, he has led the World Wildlife Fund in Mexico, focusing on conserving – together with local communities, authorities, NGOs and the private sector – the country´s amazing biodiversity, including jaguars, monkeys, whales and dolphins, birds, marine turtles, sharks, freshwater fish, and many other endangered species and their habitats. He holds Mexican and Colombian nationalities, lives in Mexico with his wife Patricia and is the proud father of two children, Pía and Omar Jr.
Robyn Appleton
Spectacled Bear Conservation Peru
Robyn Appleton is founder and research director for the Spectacled Bear Conservation Society – Peru (SBC). Robyn holds a professional masters degree from Simon Fraser University and is currently a PhD student at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver in the Center for Applied Conservation Biology. After attending her first International Conference for the Association for Bear Research and Management ten years ago, she noted that there was a real need for research on the spectacled bear, designated as vulnerable by the IUCN. Little was known about this bear’s natural history because global research efforts are on giant pandas, Polar bears, black bears and grizzly bears. In 2006 in northern Peru, Robyn connected with ex-hunter and now conservationist Javier Vallejos, and together they spent the next eight months in various field locations searching for spectacled bears. Their determination paid off as they discovered a population of bears at low elevations. Since then, she and her team have conducted the first observation study on wild spectacled bears, discovered the first active maternal den site, and fitted the first wild Peruvian spectacled bear with a GPS collar. Robyn has presented her findings around the world. She plans to continue her research in the dry forests of Northern Peru, raising awareness of spectacled bears and bringing global attention to their plight and the future challenges facing their dry forest habitat and ecosystem.
Thai Van Nguyen
Save Vietnam’s Wildlife (Pangolin)
After success in rescuing and rehabilitating pangolins, Thai became responsible for all activities related to the captive management of carnivores and pangolins as the captive manager at Carnivore & Pangolins Conservation. In 2014, he became founder and executive director of a national non-profit organization called Save Vietnam’s Wildlife. Thai has carried out many research projects both in captivity and in the wild, resulting in him co-authoring many published papers in international scientific journals. He was chosen as one of 40 wildlife heroes in the Wildlife Heroes book, published in the United States in 2012. Thai’s success has stemmed from his devotion to threatened species backed by solid scientific research. Thai has a Master of Science (Environmental Science) and Graduate Diploma in Environmental Management and Development from the Australian National University, and a Graduate Certificate in Durrell Endangered Species Management from the University of Kent and Durrell Wildlife Conservation.
Dr. Simon Morgan
Wildlife ACT (Rhino), speaking on the Wildlife Trade Panel
After completing a degree in Conservation Ecology at Stellenbosch University in the Western Cape, Simon moved to Zululand where he spent four years tracking black rhino as a wildlife monitor and collecting data for his PhD degree. After completing his degree and realizing the gaps between research and management he co-founded a wildlife monitoring organization with the aim of facilitating adaptive management oriented monitoring systems for threatened species. Wildlife ACT currently run ten wildlife monitoring teams across four countries, assisting government conservation authorities, community owned wildlife management areas, the private sector and conservation organizations with the management, implementation and funding of these teams. With the current scourge of rhino poaching, the rhino monitoring work and the facilitation of rhino projects in Southern Africa has become even more of a focus than before. Wildlife ACT have assisted with the rhino monitoring work and reintroductions for the WWF-Black Rhino Range Expansion Project around South Africa for the last ten years, and have also help fund or bring expertise for rhino monitoring and security in Tanzania, Malawi and Namibia. Realizing that the poaching fight was not going to be won only from the field, Simon further founded a community conservation education project which works with one of the few communities in South Africa that own rhino, helped co-found Project Rhino KZN. Simon firmly believes that demand reduction initiatives like this are the only key to sustainable long-term reductions in the trade of illegal wildlife.
Jeffrey Flocken
International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), speaking on the Wildlife Trade Panel
Jeffrey Flocken is the North American Regional Director for the International Fund for Animal Welfare where he leads the organization’s team of legislative professionals in the US and Canada advocating for global, national, and local policy initiatives on behalf of animals. Before this appointment, Mr. Flocken worked for the federal government as an International Affairs Specialist. Mr. Flocken has served as a consultant on numerous movies, books and television shows addressing wildlife conservation topics. Mr. Flocken currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Jaguar Conservation Fund, the Steering Committee for the IUCN Tapir Specialist Group, and is an Advisor to the Grace Gorilla Sanctuary. Mr. Flocken is also the founder and board co-chair of the Emerging Wildlife Conservation Leaders initiative which mentors and provides campaign training for up-and-coming leaders in the wildlife field. He is the coauthor of the book Wildlife Heroes, published by Running Press in March 2012.
The Wildlife Conservation Expo will be held on October 10, 2015 in San Francisco. Learn more about the Expo.