Penny BECKER

Penny joined Island Conservation in January 2020 and then became the organization's Chief Executive Officer in 2024. She has a passion for learning and practicing leadership around conservation issues. Penny has experience building cooperation across diverse people for natural resource challenges and developing the social, political, and resource support necessary to achieve conservation of at-risk ecosystems and species around the world.  

Penny received a BS in Biology from Willamette University and a PhD in Wildlife Management from the University of Pretoria in South Africa. Her graduate research focused on the conservation, genetics, and behavior of African wild dogs in collaboration with Smithsonian Institution. In addition to her time in South Africa, she has lived, traveled, and worked internationally, including spending several years in Tanzania. Penny settled back in the U.S. Pacific Northwest in 2011 and worked in state government for 9 years focused on recovering at-risk wildlife species and keeping common species common. Penny has wide-ranging conservation and research experience working on topics and species as diverse as coastal community initiatives, seabird diets, pygmy rabbit reintroductions, marine protected areas, wildebeest behavior, orca recovery, and fisher re-establishment, among others.