John Poulsen

John Poulsen is the Global Director of Science Capacity at The Nature Conservancy. In this position, he leads a Global Science program that provides learning support and resources to business units worldwide with the goal of advancing science that contributes to conservation. John was previously a professor at the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University for more than 11 years. He is an ecologist with more than 100 peer-reviewed papers and more than two decades of experience working to support conservation, particularly in the Central African region. John works in partnership with governmental agencies, industry and local communities on issues such as the effects of wildlife loss on human welfare and ecosystem structure, the environmental and human drivers of forest carbon stocks and wildlife populations, sustainable logging and hunting practices, and the effects of anthropogenic activities on ecological processes.

John has a great deal of experience in leading conservation programs. He directed conservation projects for seven years in the Republic of Congo for the Wildlife Conservation Society. He also worked with USAID and the US Forest Service as an advisor to the Gabonese government on climate change policy, one aspect of which involved establishing the nation’s forest inventory. John is dedicated to building scientific capacity, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, and co-created a forest conservation master’s program—the Forest Research Ecology and Stewardship Training—for Central Africans. John received his master’s degree from San Francisco State University and holds a PhD from the University of Florida.