Our Director of Science Prof. Dalia A. Conde from the Biology Department, received the inspiration price for her inspiring work related to species conservation. Her research is highly applied and policy focused and together with SDU and the non-profit organization Species360 she has initiated the ”Conservation Science Alliance”, which brings together researchers, zoos and aquariums, and international conservation organizations with the aim to save species from extinction.

For example, she works directly with the Convention on International Wildlife Trade (CITES) to supports them in their decisions against illegal wildlife trade or with the IUCN Red List to make species information more available to the conservation community. What makes her work inspirational is her ability to communicate in a truly engaging way and her very collaborative nature. She always includes her students in her work and inspires them by showing them that they can make a real-world impact.

She is also teaching a 1-week conservation class at Givskud zoo, giving students hands on experience about the important work of zoos in endangered species management. The class always gets very good evaluations and students frequently point out how it inspires them to pursue a career in conservation. For example one student last year wrote:

The course changed me in that way, that I really want to work more with management and conservation, and really hope I can make some projects and maybe get a job in this field one day.

Watch the prize award from SDU here