The EAAFP Secretariat welcomes new Focal Point of Wildlife Conservation Society, Martin Robards. Below is the short biography of him.
Dr. Martin Robards is the Director of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Arctic Beringia Program – a transboundary effort working across Chukotka (Russian Federation), Alaska (United States), and the Inuvialuit Settlement Region (Canada). He is an accomplished marine and coastal ecologist and policy analyst who has worked extensively with indigenous communities and their representatives in the Arctic. Martin also worked for two years in Washington D.C., informing policy makers about the challenges of implementing regional-scale policies concerning conservation in remote subsistence-dominated environments. His goal is to encourage the development and implementation of conservation policies that are more responsive to new scientific understandings, and the changes in ecological, social, and economic conditions of the Arctic. In particular, he seeks opportunities for indigenous hunters and their communities to actively engage with scientists to address topics of mutual interest. He has over 20-years of field experience, published over 30 scientific articles, served as a reviewer for numerous scientific journals, and is affiliate faculty with the University of Alaska.