Dr. Amy Vedder is widely known for her pioneering studies of mountain gorillas in Rwanda during the late 1970s and was co-founder, along with her husband Dr. William Weber, of the Mountain Gorilla Project. She is the director and vice president of Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)’s Living Landscapes Program, a new initiative geared towards balancing the needs of wildlife and people.

Dr. Vedder earned her doctorate form the University of Wisconsin in 1989 and is considered an expert in tropical forest ecology with expertise in the ecology of tropical Africa. She has spent many years in field research throughout Africa, conducting wildlife surveys, inventories, overseeing projects and studying overall tropical forest ecology.

Dr. Vedder began her work in Africa as a member of the Peace Corps from 1973-1975, and following her graduate studies, began field work for the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). From 1990-1993, Dr. Vedder served as WCS’s Biodiversity Program coordinator. In 1993, she was appointed director for WCS’s Africa Program, overseeing all field projects, program designs, implementation of projects, synthesis and assessment. The Africa Program is a major facet of WCS’s International Conservation Program, which comprises more than 300 field projects in 52 countries. As director of the Living Landscapes Program, she is overseeing the implementation of a science-based approach to conserving wildlife and wildlands outside of protected areas.

Dr. Vedder sums up her professional interest as follows: she wants to contribute to the conservation of wildlife and wildlands via good science, careful assessment of gathered information, and dedicated yet prudent implementation of conservation and management activities.

Selected Books and Publications

• In the Kingdom of Gorillas: Fragile Species in a Dangerous Land, co-authored with Bill Weber, Simon and Schuster, 2001