Laurel Neme, Ph.D.
Author Laurel Neme has camped in the Kalahari, investigated walrus carcasses on Alaska’s Bering Sea beaches, and gotten lost in the Amazon jungle with the Brazilian Federal Police—all in pursuit of knowledge and a better story. She is the author of Animal Investigators: How the World’s First Wildlife Forensics Lab is Solving Crimes and Saving Endangered Species, a “CSI for wildlife” that has been featured on ABC News Nightline, C-SPAN, and NPR’s Science Friday.
She also hosts “The WildLife,” a weekly radio show that explores the mysteries of the animal world through interviews with scientists and other wildlife investigators. Laurel is working on a second book and writes regularly for JeffCorwinConnect.com and Mongabay.com. She also reports for Earth Negotiations Bulletin, where she covers the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
She enjoys public speaking and has addressed a range of public and professional groups, including Interpol’s Wildlife Crime Working Group, the St. Louis Zoo, the American Museum of Natural History and various universities. Her writing and speaking builds on more than a decade of experience as a consultant working in over a dozen African countries, where she’s been feted with chickens by villagers and shared stories with rangers on the frontlines of wildlife poaching.
She continues to consult on wildlife and natural resource management and serves as a Fellow at the University of Vermont’s Institute for Environmental Diplomacy and Security. Perhaps because she holds a Master’s degree in public policy from the University of Michigan and a PhD in public and international affairs from Princeton University, she has a special place in her heart for wolverines and tigers.
____________________________
About her book:
Animal Investigators
How the World’s First Wildlife Forensics Lab is Solving Crimes and Saving Endangered Species
(Scribner, 2009; University of Florida Press, 2011)
Accomplished environmental journalist Laurel A. Neme goes behind the scenes at the wildlife forensics lab – the only crime lab of its kind – to reveal how its forensic scientists and the agents of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are working to investigate wildlife crimes, protect endangered species, and stem illegal wildlife trafficking, the third largest illegal trade in the world. Filled with the suspense and thrilling detail of a crime novel yet driven by the all-too-real drama of a small band of scientists and investigators battling a lucrative, high-stakes underground industry, Animal Investigators is an engrossing account of crime and cutting-edge science.
____________________________
Speaking Topics:
