Chair

Diogo Verìssimo

Diogo Veríssimo is a Senior Researcher at the University of Oxford where he focuses on the design and evaluation of behaviour change interventions to conserve biodiversity. He has for 20 years advanced the use of marketing theory and concepts to drive forward the conservation of nature, namely the use of flagship species to promote conservation.

Member

Dulce Espelosin

Dulce Espelosin is an expert in social behaviour norms, focusing on the design of change strategies in rural environments focused on conservation and in urban environments for organizational norms.

Member

Ganga Shreedhar

Dr Shreedhar is a behavioural scientist focusing on promoting pro-environmental and pro-ecological motivation and behaviours. She is at the London School of Economics and Political Science and based in the Dept. of Psychological and Behavioural Sciences.

Member

Judy Mann

Dr Mann has over 30 years of experience in conservation education, communication and behaviours change. She holds a Master’s Degree in Ichthyology, a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and PhD in Culture and Environmental Learning from the University of Queensland in Australia. She is President Elect of the International Zoo Educators Association (IZE) and serves on the Council of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA).

Member

Kira Mileham

Dr Kira Mileham is a behaviour change practitioner focused on the social psychology of partnerships across the species conservation community. Dr Mileham works as the global Director of Strategic Partnerships for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Species Survival Commission (SSC). In this role, Dr Mileham is globally responsible for strengthening the collaborative species conservation efforts of IUCN SSC's 9,000+ scientific experts by growing partnership movements with Zoos, Aquariums, Botanic Gardens, NGOs, Corporate and community partners and Government Agencies. Kira holds degrees in conservation ecology, public relations and journalism, and a PhD in human behaviour change and impact evaluation from the University of Newcastle, Australia. Kira is also an adviser on the Global Council of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums and in 2022 was voted one of the top ten influencers in the global zoo and aquarium community.

Member

Laura Perry

Dr Laura Perry is a consultant at Castlerock Conservation, with ten years of experience working on the Human Dimensions of wildlife. She provides support to programmes looking to more successfully incorporate social science into their conservation activities, focussing on the application of behaviour change tools and techniques to improve conservation outcomes. Alongside behaviour change, Laura also focusses heavily on strategic planning, stakeholder engagement, and monitoring and evaluation. Laura works with partners around the world, from Florida to Japan, but has particular expertise in sub-Saharan Africa, having lived in the region for eight years. In addition to her core work, Laura also works as a handling editor for a number of journals, and is a research associate at Indiana University. 

Member

Laura Thomas-Walters

Dr Laura Thomas-Walters is Deputy Director of Experimental Research for the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. She is a conservation social scientist with a focus on pro-environmental behaviour change. She works closely with governments and NGOs to enact change through her research. Currently her focus is on promoting plant-based diets and mobilising collective climate action.

Member

Matthew Selinske

Matthew Selinske is a senior research fellow at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. Matthew's studies a range of topics including motivations to participate in conservation behaviours and prioritising conservation behaviour change. He also serves as the President of the Society for Conservation Biology's Social Science Working Group.

Member

Sean Southey

Sean Southey has over 30 years of experience in the international development and communications field. With a multi-sectoral background, Sean started his career with 5 years in the Canadian Ministry of Environment, followed by 12 years working with the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) environment team. His NGO experience was enriched through work with ICLEI (Secretary General), Rare (Vice-President) and 10 years as President of the NGO PCI Media. Over the past decade he has led the development of over 80 campaigns world-wide, won over 100 awards for impactful campaigns, and reached literally billions of people with life and planet saving information. Sean has extensive experience speaking around the world on the importance of communications and regularly runs creative design, capacity building and strategy workshops. In 2016, Sean was elected as Chair for the International Union for the Conservation on Nature’s (IUCN) Commission on Education and Communication (CEC). In this role, he has worked tirelessly to enhance IUCN’s use of creative communications for social change. Sean is a dual Canadian and South African citizen and has lived, worked and travelled in over 100 countries. He holds a MSc from the London School of Economics and a BA in Economics from the University of British Columbia.

Member

Takahiro Kubo

Dr Kubo focuses on the economics and behaviour change concerning biodiversity conservation and wildlife and tourism management. He has expertise in the economic valuation of ecosystem services and behaviour change to address sustainability challenges, including biodiversity conservation, climate change, environmental degradation and resource scarcity. He is also interested in the incorporation of broad scientific knowledge into economic analysis and interdisciplinary approaches in conservation.

Member

Ada Sánchez-Mercado

Dr. Ada's research focuses on using quantitative and qualitative analytical tools to understand the social, economic, and cultural factors driving the unsustainable use of wildlife, particularly birds, in South America. 

Member

Alexandra Zimmermann

Dr. Alexandra Zimmermann is the founding Chair of the IUCN SSC Human-Wildlife Conflict & Coexistence Specialist Group and a Senior Fellow at the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit at the University of Oxford. For the past 24 years she has worked on human-wildlife conflict (HWC) in a vast range of social, political and economic contexts around the globe. She specialises in conflict analysis, community engagement, stakeholder dialogue, dispute negotiation and social research, and advises a range of intergovernmental organisations on HWC matters.

Member

Fel Cadiz

Mr. Cadiz is a community development working applying behavior-centered design to help coastal communities co-design and implement behavior change programs to address social, ecological and institutional issues in near-shore fisheries; he is based in Iloilo province, Philippines.

Member

Liliana Vanegas 

Liliana Vanegas is a passionate social marketing practitioner, deeply committed to driving behavior change in African and Latin American regions. Leveraging her expertise, she spearheads initiatives focused on sustainability, conservation, and public health. Her efforts target citizens in urban cities and rural communities, fostering lasting positive change that contributes to both human well-being and environmental integrity.

Member

Sarah Thomas

Dr. Sarah Thomas is a social scientist and Head of Conservation Advocacy and Engagement at Auckland Zoo, Aotearoa New Zealand. For 20+ years, she has advanced how zoos, aquariums, and other conservation NGOs make meaningful and impactful contributions to behavioural and social changes in conservation landscapes. Sarah holds qualifications in BSc(Hons) Zoology, PGCE Education, PGC Leading Change for Good and has a PhD focusing on exploring the social dimensions of biodiversity conservation. Sarah authored Social Change for Conservation – The World Zoo and Aquarium Conservation Education Strategy and is President-Elect for IZE (International Zoo Educators Association).