Susie Ellis

Susie Ellis is the Executive Director of the International Rhino Foundation.

"Dr. Susie Ellis as its new . Prior to joining IRF in December, Dr. Ellis spent 5.5 years as Vice President for Indonesia and Philippines programs for Conservation International, overseeing management and program development for field programs in both Indonesia and Philippines, focusing on terrestrial and marine biodiversity conservation, including species work with Sumatran orangutans, Javan gibbons, and Philippine eagles. She has worked in nearly 30 countries over the past 15 years and has written more than 100 technical papers, proceedings and book chapters.

"From 1991-2001, Dr. Ellis was Senior Program Officer for IUCN’s Conservation Union's Conservation Breeding Specialist Group (CBSG), facilitating more than 100 collaborative species conservation and strategic planning workshops and securing the operation of the organization. She co-led a 5-year collaborative interdisciplinary project for giant panda conservation in China that has enhanced collaboration among agencies responsible for their conservation, as well as among U.S.-based partners. A book highlighting the project’s discoveries, Giant Pandas: Biology, Veterinary Medicine and Management, edited by Ellis and other colleagues, has just been published by Cambridge University Press. She has worked extensively with a number of conservation organizations worldwide, serving as Strategic Associate of the IUCN/SSC Conservation Breeding Specialist Group, a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, and as a Smithsonian Research Associate.

"Dr. Ellis also is well-known in the zoo community, both internationally and within the US, having worked for the Minnesota Zoo, Lincoln Park Zoo (Chicago), San Diego Zoo and Sea World (San Diego) in addition to the CBSG. She and her husband, Dr. David Wildt, live in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia."


 * International Scientific Board of Advisors, Cheetah Conservation Fund (USA)