Russell Mittermeier

Russell Mittermeier, Russ is the Chief Conservation Officer at Re:wild and currently serves on the Steering Committee of the IUCN Species Survival Commission, is Chair of the IUCN Primate Specialist Group, and serves on the executive boards of the IUCN Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group, the Turtle Conservation Fund, Turtle Survival Alliance, and Chelonian Research Foundation. He was the President of Conservation International from 1989 to 2014, and previously was at WWF for 11 years. Named a “Hero for the Planet” by TIME magazine, Mittermeier is a world authority on biodiversity and tropical forest conservation. 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, including working in Madagascar since 1984. He is the author of nearly 800 scientific and popular papers and 40 books. He received the Harvard University GSAS Centennial Award in 2017, and in 2018 was awarded the Behler Turtle Conservation Award and the prestigious Indianapolis Prize for his leadership in global conservation efforts. He has described 23 new species (including three turtles). As an international leader of the turtle and primate communities he brings several decades of conservation experience and a vast network of donors and nonprofits.