Dr. Marc Foggin

Biography

Dr. Marc Foggin is a conservation biologist specialised in mountain environments of Asia, focusing especially on the complex human dimensions of conservation, natural resource management and community development. Marc is an honorary Research Associate at the Institute of Asian Research in the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs (SPPGA), University of British Columbia (UBC). From 2014 to 2018, he led the work of the Mountain Societies Research Institute, University of Central Asia; latterly as Associate (Acting) Director. Since 1998, Marc also has led/supervised conservation and development projects undertaken by the non-governmental organisation Plateau Perspectives, supporting local initiatives in the Tibetan Plateau region and mountain areas in the Himalayas and Central Asia.

With over 20 years of fieldwork in biodiversity conservation and community development, Dr. Foggin has project implementation and applied research experience in fields ranging from wildlife ecology, protected areas, and community co-management, to community development initiatives with a core focus on pastoralist livelihoods, community-based tourism, and development policy analysis. He also has served as international consultant to WWF, UNDP, and other organisations, and he was the Chief Technical Advisor for the Global Environment Facility supported ‘Qinghai Biodiversity Conservation Project’ in 2013-14. As a member of several associations including Society for Conservation Biology (SCB), Citizen Science Association (CSA) and International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA), he regularly contributes to current dialogues about biodiversity conservation, environmental management, and the development of partnerships with local and indigenous communities in matters directly affecting their lives and livelihoods.

Dr. Foggin presently serves on the advisory committee of the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) ‘Gobi Frameworks’ project on sustainable infrastructure development (led by Oxford University), and he is a member or coordinator of several research consortia focused on the environmental and social dimensions of China’s Belt & Road Initiative. He holds a PhD in Biology from Arizona State University, USA, and a BSc in Biology from McGill University, Canada.