All Speakers

Speaker Melanie SCHWEIKART
Melanie SCHWEIKART

Project Manager Biodiversity and Marine Conservation at the International Climat

Zukunft – Umwelt – Gesellschaft (ZUG) gGmbH

Melanie Schweikart has been working for 3 years in the International Climate Initiative (IKI), a funding programme for climate action and biodiversity conservation projects by the German Federal…
Speaker Melanie ZURBA
Melanie ZURBA

Steering Committee Member/Associate Professor

IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas 2021-2025

Chair, Theme on Governance, Equity and RightsProfessor Zurba’s work focuses on projects that are developed and implemented in collaboration with communities. Professor Zurba has worked…
Melesha GUNNING-BANHAN
Melesha GUNNING-BANHAN

IUCN Secretariat

Speaker Melinka NAJERA
Melinka NAJERA

Coordinadora regional del Programa Enlazando

IUCN Secretariat

After my graduation in Spain and Belgium as a forestry engineer with a master in tropical forestry and development, I moved to the Central America region in 2011. During my career, I have gained…
Speaker Melissa DE KOCK
Melissa DE KOCK

Deputy Director

UNEP

Melissa is Deputy Director of UNEP-WCMC, providing leadership support across programmatic and policy issues. She provides programmatic oversight to key areas of UNEP-WCMC’s work; develops and…
Speaker Melissa LEACH
Melissa LEACH

Executive Director

Cambridge Conservation Initiative

Melissa Leach is Executive Director of the Cambridge Conservation initiative (CCI), a collaboration between ten world-leading nature and biodiversity organisations with the University of Cambridge,…
Speaker Melissa SONGER
Melissa SONGER

Conservation Biologist

Smithsonian National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute

Melissa Songer is Head of the Conservation Ecology Center at Smithsonian National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute. She works primarily on the conservation and landscape ecology of endangered…
Speaker Menelaos MEGARIOTIS
Menelaos MEGARIOTIS

Principal

Strategy&

●Bio SummaryMenelaos Megariotis is a Principal at Strategy& in Dubai. He is an experienced strategy consultant with a focus on the topics of Energy, Sustainability, and Innovation. He has worked…
Speaker Mercedes MUÑOZ CAÑAS
Mercedes MUÑOZ CAÑAS

Nature conservation and food systems/ Marine Biodiversity and Blue Economy

IUCN Secretariat

Speaker Mercy MULENGA
Mercy MULENGA

Journalist

BBC MEDIA ACTION

Mercy is a Zambian and seasoned journalist working for Yar FM radio, with over five years of experience. Driven by the passion to uncover untold stories, Mercy is committed to amplifying marginalized…
Speaker Meshal ALHARBI
Meshal ALHARBI
Dr. Meshal Abdullah Alharbi is the Director General of the Rangelands Administration at the National Center for Vegetation Cover and Combating Desertification (NCVC). He earned his Ph.D. from King…
Speaker Mezna ALHEBSHI
Mezna ALHEBSHI

Ekthar

Mezna Alhebshi recently joined Ekthar Wildlife, working under the conservation genetics department as a laboratory technician. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from Purdue University…
Speaker Miao YU
Miao YU

General Manager

SPIC Huanghe Hydropower Development Co.,Ltd.

Yu Miao, General Manager of SPIC Huanghe Hydropower Development Co., Ltd., has long been dedicated to the development and cooperation of renewable energy. He possesses extensive experience in project…
Speaker Michael (Mike) HOFFMANN
Michael (Mike) HOFFMANN

Head of Wildlife Recovery

Zoological Society of London

Mike Hoffmann, a South African national, is currently based at the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) where he heads up the organization’s cross-cutting conservation programmes. He has worked in…
Speaker Michael APPLETON
Michael APPLETON

Senior Adviser

IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas 2021-2025

Thematic Vice Chair, Capacity Development. Mike’s work as a conservation practitioner focuses on applied, area-based conservation, working in more than 40 counties to help establish protected…
Speaker Michael BALTZER
Michael BALTZER

Executive Director of Shoal

Synchronicity Earth

Michael is the founder and Executive Director of the SHOAL initiative for the conservation of freshwater species. Michael has over 30 years of leading large scale ambitious conservation programmes in…
Speaker Michael BROMBACHER
Michael BROMBACHER
Michael Brombacher is a trained environmental scientist. From 2001 to 2011 he worked and lived (since 2004) in Central Asia where he developed the Important Bird Areas Programme in the region on…
Speaker Michael BUNCE
Michael BUNCE

Director of OceanOmics and Ecosystem Intelligence

Minderoo Foundation

Mike trained in genetics and then used his DNA skills within the fields of ancient and environmental DNA. He spent the last two decades (at Universities in Oxford, Canada and Australia) extracting…
Speaker Michael CLIFFORD
Michael CLIFFORD

Strategy Director

Reverse the Red

A deep love of natural, simplicity, and finding the richest flavors and experiences in life, Michael, with his wife, son, and dog live on thier small urban farm-ecosystem in Kansas, United States. He…
Speaker Michael COOPERMAN
Michael COOPERMAN

Fish & Fisheries Ecologist

PlusFish Philanthropy

A fish and fisheries ecologist specializing in research and management of inland fisheries of the developing nations of the tropics. Founder and principal of PlusFish Philanthropy, from which grants…
Speaker Michael EDMONDSTONE
Michael EDMONDSTONE

Communications and Engagement Lead

IUCN Species Survival Commission 2021-2025

Communications and Engagement Lead at SHOAL.I work to raise awareness about the freshwater biodiversity crisis and the conservation work being done to solve it, and to inspire about the world of…
Speaker Michael ELLIOTT
Michael ELLIOTT

Professor and Director

IECS Ltd, and University of Hull

Mike is the Director of International Estuarine & Coastal Specialists (IECS) Ltd and also the Emeritus Professor of Estuarine and Coastal Sciences at the University of Hull, UK. He was Director…
Speaker Michael ESGRO
Michael ESGRO

Senior Biodiversity Program Manager & Tribal Liaison

California Ocean Protection Council

Senior Biodiversity Program Manager & Tribal Liaison at the California Ocean Protection Council/California Natural Resources Agency
Speaker Michael HANTKE-DOMAS
Michael HANTKE-DOMAS

Associate Professor

Universidad San Sebastian

Dr. Michael Hantke Domas is an internationally recognized lawyer for his professional and academic practice in water law, natural resources law and environmental law. His experience stems from more…
Speaker Michael NAGEL
Michael NAGEL

Head of Programme

GIZ

Speaker michael SUBALDO
michael SUBALDO

Senior Animal Keeper

Al Ain Zoo

Speaker Michail KAPETANAKIS
Michail KAPETANAKIS

Policy Advisor, Sustainable Infrastructure

IISD

Michail Kapetanakis is a Policy Advisor in Sustainable Infrastructure at IISD. He has over 6 years of cross-sectoral experience in sustainability consulting and economic analysis for transport, urban…
Speaker MICHEL MASOZERA
MICHEL MASOZERA

Africa Director, Policy and Partnerships

Wildlife Conservation Society

Dr. Michel Masozera is currently the Director of Policy and Partnerships for Africa at the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). The goal of this position is to enhance WCS Africa’s influence and…