Melissa SONGER

Melissa Songer is Head of the Conservation Ecology Center at Smithsonian National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute. She works primarily on the conservation and landscape ecology of endangered species in Asia and Chad. She uses advanced geospatial technologies to detect human transformation of landscapes and assess its impacts on endangered species and their habitats. Her research integrates extensive collection of ecological data in the field including surveys of endangered species, their movements, and assessments of human communities, with spatial models. She develops science-based strategies for sustaining and restoring species and ecosystems and works extensively with partners on the ground to implement conservation solutions.
Her projects include restoring Przewalski's horses to their native range in China and Mongolia, movements of Asian elephants, human-elephant conflict in changing landscapes in Asia, restoring and tracking scimitar-horned oryx in Chad, and restoring giant panda landscapes in China. She integrates capacity building with all her research and conservation programs through training and mentoring protected area staff, conservation professionals, and graduate students and has trained more than 1,000 individuals representing over 40 countries.