Craig Leisher, Nature Conservancy Senior Advisor, Poverty and Conservation

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Craig Leisher

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Craig Leisher, senior social science advisor, The Nature Conservancy Courtesy Craig Leisher

Craig Leisher

Senior Social Scientist

Contact Information

E-mail: cleisher@tnc.org

Brief Biography

Craig Leisher is a senior social scientist with The Nature Conservancy. Prior to joining the Conservancy in 2003, Craig spent six years in Vietnam where he was the program director for WWF Indochina and the environment advisor for the UN Development Program. Before Vietnam, Craig worked for the World Bank in the environment sector of Latin America and the former Soviet Union for five years. From 2003 to 2006, he was the Conservancy’s senior policy and finance advisor for China and Indonesia. He has more than 60 publications and much of his work focuses on conservation’s benefits to people in developing countries. He holds an MA in international relations from the American University with an economics focus and a BA in Russian History from the University of New Mexico. He is an avid scuba diver and has discovered a new-to-science species of cave fish.

Craig Leisher

Senior Social Scientist

2013

Leisher, C., L.H. Samberg, P. Van Buekering, and Sanjayan, M. 2013. Focal areas for measuring the human well-being impacts of a conservation initiative. Sustainability 5, no. 3: 997-1010. http:// www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/3/997.

Leisher, C., Sanjayan, M., Blockhus, J., Larsen, N. and Kontoleon, A. 2013. Does conserving biodiversity work to reduce poverty? A state of knowledge review. In Biodiversity Conservation and Poverty Alleviation: Exploring the Evidence for a Link. Eds D. Roe, J. Elliott, C. Sandbrook and M. Walpole. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Chichester, UK. doi: 10.1002/9781118428351.ch9.

2012

Kottelat, M., and C. Leisher. 2012. Fishes from Phuong Hoang cave, northern Vietnam, with description of a new species of loach (Teleostei: Nemacheilidae). Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters, 23(3), 237.

Leisher C., S. Mangubhai, S. Hess, H. Widodo, T. Soekirman, S. Tjoe, S. Wawiyai, S. Neil Larsen, L. Rumetna, A. Halim, and M. Sanjayan. 2012 Measuring the benefits and costs of community education and outreach in marine protected areas. Marine Policy doi:10.1016/j.marpol.2012.02.022

Leisher C., S. Hess, T. M. Boucher, P. van Beukering, and M. Sanjayan. 2012. Measuring the impacts of community-based grasslands management in Mongolia's Gobi. PLoS ONE 7: e30991. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0030991

2011

Leisher C., R. Brouwer, T. M. Boucher, R. Vogelij, W. R. Bainbridge, and M. Sanjayan. 2011. Striking a balance: socioeconomic development and conservation in grassland through community-based zoning. PLoS ONE 6: e28807. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0028807

2010

Leisher C, M. Sanjayan, J. Blockhus, A. Kontoleon, and S.N. Larsen. 2010. Does conserving biodiversity work to reduce poverty? A state of knowledge review. The Nature Conservancy, University of Cambridge, and International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED). 32 pp.

2008

Leisher C. 2008. What Rachel Carson knew about marine protected areas. BioScience 58 (6): 478-479.

2007

Leisher C, van Beukering P, Scherl L.M. 2007. Nature’s Investment Bank: How Marine Protected Areas Contribute to Poverty Reduction. Arlington VA: The Nature Conservancy. 52 pp.

Read Craig Leisher's Full Biography