press release (1.15.10): NRCC team expands
NRCC has long worked to bridge the gap between science and policy. With our recent programmatic and core office expansions, the Board of Directors also is also ready to grow.
Last fall, Board President Peyton Griffin approached long-time research associate Rich Wallace and asked him to serve as a director, an obvious next step to his commitment to the organization.
Peyton says, “ We are excited to work with Rich Wallace at the board level. He is such an outstanding conservation researcher, teacher, and practitioner with years of experience an national conservation programs like the Marine Mammal Commission and the Society for Conservation Biology’s Social Science Working Group. He will help us improve our organizational practices as well as our on-the-ground conservation practices.”
Richard L. Wallace is an associate professor of environmental studies at Ursinus College. From 2002-2009, he was the founding chair of the Ursinus Environmental Studies Program, where he continues to teach interdisciplinary courses on species and ecosystem conservation. Rich also worked as a staff member of the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission, where he analyzed and made improvements to species and habitat conservation programs. He is a member of the executive council of the Society of Policy Scientists and is also a founding board member and current vice president of the Social Science Working Group of the Society for Conservation Biology. He has published numerous papers appraising and suggesting strategies for species and ecosystem conservation, and co-edited special issues of the journals Policy Sciences and Endangered Species Update on integrative endangered species conservation. “With his professional expertise and long-term knowledge of NRCC’s pragmatic approach to conservation, Rich is a natural fit with the Board,” says executive director Jason Wilmot.
NRCC’s roster of research associates also grew in the fall with the addition of Douglas Clark. Doug is a Centennial Chair and Assistant Professor with the School of Environment and Sustainability at the University of Saskatchewan and a Research Affiliate with the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies at Yale University. Doug, who spent 11 years in natural resource conservation with Parks Canada, earned a bachelor degree in biology from the University of Victoria, a master’s in zoology from the University of Alberta, and a PhD in geography and environmental studies from Wilfrid Laurier University. Since 2007, Doug has been a Scholar-in-Residence at Yukon College, building the college’s research capacity and providing strategic advice on a new undergraduate environmental studies program. At the same time, he has served as a Post Doctoral Fellow with the University of Alberta, leading a collaborative research project intended to improve decision-making in polar bear conservation by applying problem analysis methods from the policy sciences. Doug has a keen interest in governance and policy processes for wildlife and ecosystem management, large carnivore conservation and wildlife-human conflicts, and improving professional practice in natural resource management.
Peyton says, “It seems especially fitting to welcome Doug Clark as a new NRCC research associate just as we launch our expanded carnivore coexistence program. His work focused on polar bears, conservation policy, and innovative ways to protect wildlife threatened by climate change epitomizes the best of NRCC’s efforts to bridge science and policy.” Added Jason Wilmot, executive director: “Doug’s research and skills will be valuable assets in building NRCC’s carnivore conservation team.”