Seminar: Stories of Success and Failure in Conservation

Speaker Bio: 

Hugh Possingham is currently an Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow and director of The Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science at the University of Queensland. He simultaneously serves as director of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions (CEED) and the Australian Government’s National Environmental Science Program (NESP) Threatened Species Recovery Hub. A Fellow of the Australian Academy of Sciences, Possingham’s groundbreaking research has been published in such leading journals as Science, Nature and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). His team’s Marxan software drove Australia’s rezoning of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, and is now used in more than 150 countries to change the face of about 5% of the planet’s surface. As a member of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists, and many other review committees and boards, Possingham has been a leading voice in providing independent advice to the Australian government and the public about environmental issues. Hugh was recently appointed Chief Scientist at The Nature Conservancy, and will lead the work of more than 600 scientists engaged in conservation efforts impacting 69 countries around the world.