BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Carlos Drews is the Executive Vice-President for Conservation at Ocean Wise, a conservation organization headquartered in Vancouver, Canada. He is responsible for the design and execution of its global ocean conservation strategy, overseeing a portfolio spanning conservation science, marine mammals, plastics and other pollution, ocean noise, blue carbon, sustainable seafood, the Arctic, marine biodiversity monitoring, as well as citizen action initiatives including shoreline cleanups, citizen science, cetaceans sightings network, among others. Before that, he served as the executive director of the Jane Goodall Institute USA from 2017 to 2019, a community conservation organization that advances the global vision of Dr. Jane Goodall by improving the lives of people, animals and the environment. A native of Colombia, his professional career spans three decades working on wildlife conservation with local, regional and global assignments. After completing two masters degrees in biology, Drews earned his Ph.D. in zoology from the University of Cambridge researching psychological warfare in baboon communities of Tanzania – a study that earned him the John Napier Medal of the Primate Society of Great Britain. He carried out research into wildlife behavioral ecology in Africa and Latin America, in addition to studies of societal attitudes towards wildlife. He was academic staff and interim director of the International Institute for Wildlife Conservation and Management in Costa Rica, where he co-authored Costa Rica´s annual report on human sustainable development and the government´s strategy to combat climate change. He then spent 13 years working for the World Wildlife Fund, initially as head of its regional species and fisheries team in Latin America and the Caribbean, and subsequently as the WWF global director of species conservation, responsible for engaging governments, NGOs, corporations and donors to rally behind a joint marine & terrestrial species conservation agenda. During his tenure at WWF, Drews sought to change the perception of wildlife crime to a serious crime on a global scale. Carlos was awarded the LiberPress International Award 2015 in Girona (Spain) “for his tireless work towards studying, preserving and protecting the animal species that surround us”. An avid runner, Carlos lives in Vancouver, Canada, drinks lots of tea and is fond of Asian cuisine.