Prof. Hugh Possingham

Hugh Possingham is an award-winning conservation scientist. He has published over 700 refereed research papers in the fields of applied ecology, population dynamics and conservation biology. His diverse career brought him to work as an academic in various prestigious institutions such as Stanford University, Oxford University, Imperial College and The University of Queensland, where he supervised over 90 PhD students. 

In 2016, Hugh became the Chief of Scientist of The Nature Conservancy. In this role he coordinated the organisation’s scientific efforts in protecting more than 40 million hectares of land and thousands of kilometres of rivers worldwide. Most recently he was the Chief Scientist of Queensland, Australia, where he provided high-level strategic science, research and innovation advice to the Queensland Government on all scientific issues. 

Currently Hugh divides his time between multiple initiatives to protect biodiversity (e.g. the Biodiversity Council, BirdLife Australia, Great Barrier Reef Foundation, Adelaide University Environment Institute and Accounting for Nature), and his position as the chief scientist of Queensland, Australia, where he provides high-level strategic science, research and innovation advice to the Queensland Government.