Dr. Bill Weber has worked for more than 30 years in the field of international conservation, combining action to save wild lands and wildlife with concern for local human needs. His initial interdisciplinary research in Rwanda led to the creation of a pioneering ecotourism program that is widely cited as a model. As director of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Africa Program, Dr. Weber created a Congo Basin Program that helped establish more than twenty new protected areas, produced the first reliable data on forest elephant and great ape populations, and developed effective alliances with local communities, commercial timber companies, and other non-traditional partners. Later, as WCS North America Director, Weber turned his attention to wildlife recovery, ecological connectivity, energy development, and community-based conservation from Alaska to the Adirondacks.
Dr. Weber has authored dozens of articles on subjects ranging from ecotourism and cultural factors in conservation to gorillas, bison, and wolves. His critically acclaimed book, In the Kingdom of Gorillas, written with Dr. Amy Vedder, was featured by BBC Wildlife as one of “the most influential books from the past 40 years of wildlife publishing.” He is also senior editor of African Rain Forest Ecology and Conservation. He currently serves as co-chair of the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative and advises on other conservation efforts.
Dr. Weber is a past Bass Distinguished Environmental Scholar at Yale and co-teaches two YSE conservation-in-practice seminars with Dr. Vedder, with whom he leads an annual conservation study tour in Rwanda each May.
Education
BA Psychology
MSc Environmental Studies
PhD Land Resources
Areas of Expertise
