Hugh Possingham

Image of Hugh Possingham
AER Advisory BoardThe Nature Conservancy, Australia & USA

Hugh Possingham is a world-renowned scientist with a highly distinguished career during which he has published over 610 peer-reviewed papers and supervised 135 doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows. He co-developed the conservation planning Marxan software used in more than 180 countries for designing nature reserves and zoning plans, which is considered one of the most significant contributions to conservation biology. He has been instrumental in policy reforms that created marine reserve systems in Australia (over 2 million square km) and around the world; reduced land clearing to save millions of hectares of forest and woodland; and used return-on-investment analyses to transform how governments allocate funds for conservation.