Species360 is pleased to announce Dr. Sandy Trautwein has been appointed as Species360’s new Director of Conservation and will lead the Species360 Conservation Science Alliance, the Species360 science team, and our strategic planning processes. She replaces Prof. Dalia Conde who has recently resigned from Species360 to pursue a career in the fields of climate change and sustainability.
Sandy previously served as Species360’s Director of Aquatic Conservation and Product Management and brings a wealth of experience and a deep commitment to conservation to her new role.
“Sandy will continue to serve our global community exceptionally well. She will focus on developing partnerships to help conserve global biodiversity through data, ultimately leading to a better quality of life for all species,” said Jim Guenter, CEO, Species360.
“For nearly 50 years, the member-contributed data in Species360’s Zoological Information Management System (ZIMS) has supported animal care and welfare improvements for zoo, aquarium, and conservation organizations. The Conservation Science Alliance expands that impact to the global conservation community,” said Dr. Trautwein.
Dr. Trautwein will support Species360’s mission and vision by enhancing the impact and application of shared data on species conservation through science. She will also seek new opportunities for Species360 by collaborating with community stakeholders to support zoo, aquarium, and conservation goals through data access, outputs, and analytics.
By providing access to data in new ways, we can empower decision-making through data sharing and support data equity throughout our global network,” she said. “This was Species360’s founding mission and remains our focus today.” Dr. Sandy Trautwein
Thank you and Farewells
After six and a half incredibly productive years with Species360, Dalia Conde is embarking on a new chapter as she ventures into the fields of climate change and sustainability.
Many in the community know Dalia and her infectious energy and passion for conservation. During her time at Species360, she accomplished a great many things, including but not limited to being an instrumental leader in launching the Conservation Science Alliance, building it from a concept to a highly respected initiative valued by CITES, the IUCN, our regional and national associations and their members, and many others in our community. Under Dalia’s leadership, we have seen multiple papers published in leading journals (Nature, Science, PNAS), the development of key analytics to evaluate the welfare of animals in human care, providing data on survival, reproduction, and growth trends, and so much more.
“We have been so fortunate to work with Dalia. She has been instrumental in setting the vision for using ZIMS data to inform scientific research and conservation,” said Jim Guenter, CEO, Species360.
In addition to Dalia’s departure, we also say farewell to her husband, Dr. Fernando Colchero, Species360 Principal Statistical Analyst, as he has been offered a position at the prestigious Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, in Leipzig, in the Primate Behavior and Evolution Department. He will lead a group on statistical primate demography. Fernando has been a key leader for many of our recent developments, including developing the analytics and tool for an exciting new module in ZIMS, which will be released in the coming weeks, as well as his impactful species longevity studies.
“Fernando has had an enormous impact on the Species360 community. Most recently, he led the development and introduction of new analytics that change what we know about the lifecycle of individual species, including survival timelines, reproductive ages, and growth,” said Guenter.
Dr. Johanna Staerk, Species360 Conservation Scientist, will join Fernando in Leipzig, where she will support him in developing fundamental research on the evolution of ageing in primates. Johanna has been a core member of the CSA team since its inception and has published numerous scientific papers on the wealth of demographic data in the ZIMS database and how it can fill knowledge gaps for conservation and improve species management.
“We will miss Johanna’s kind collaboration, and brilliant work. Although we are saddened to say goodbye to these incredible team members, we are proud of the work they have accomplished and excited to see them embark on new chapters in Germany. We wish them the very best in their future endeavours,” said Guenter.
Read the news from Species360 here:
Farewells and Exciting Changes to the Species360 Conservation Science Alliance Team
