Rosie Cooney, Ph.D.

Rosie Cooney PhD is a specialist in biodiversity conservation policy, focused on the ways we humans use wild resources (animals, plants, landscapes), through means such as hunting, gathering, fishing, tourism.

She seeks to understand and promote approaches that both meet human needs – particularly rural livelihoods – and conserve biodiversity. Her conviction is that we need to find ways to make nature valuable to us - culturally, socially, economically - if we are to successfully conserve the wealth and beauty of nature at a scale that matters.

Rosie has worked for around fifteen years at the interface of science and policy, mainly within major international nature conservation organizations, frequently working to inform and influence intergovernmental conventions and bodies. Rosie leads a group of around 300 global volunteer experts in the sustainable use of wild resources and its contribution to supporting livelihoods, the IUCN CEESP/SSC Sustainable Use and Livelihoods Specialist Group. She has carried out research and teaching at a number of universities and is currently affiliated with the University of New South Wales, and consults to governments, NGOs and the private sector. She holds various degrees including a PhD in Zoology from Cambridge.