The Nature Conservancy in Illinois Names Bob Moseley
Director of Conservation Programs
Peoria, Ill.— April 11, 2007 —The Nature Conservancy announced today the appointment of Bob Moseley as the director of conservation programs in Illinois. He will be based out of the Conservancy’s Peoria office.
In his new capacity, Moseley will oversee all of The Conservancy’s conservation work in Illinois including preserve stewardship, science, and government relations. He will lead the development of conservation priorities for Illinois programs, linking local actions with global efforts. In particular, Moseley will link the Conservancy’s Illinois conservation work with the Conservancy’s regional and global initiatives, such as the Mississippi River, Great Rivers Partnership and Great Lakes Programs. He will be supported in this work by Claudia Emken, the newly appointed associate director of conservation programs.
Since it was established in 1957, The Conservancy in Illinois has protected nearly 80,000 acres across the state. Conservation areas stretch from the Cache River Wetlands in southern Illinois to Nachusa Grasslands in the northern part of the state. Ongoing priorities include the protection of remnants of Illinois prairies, river conservation including floodplain restoration along the Illinois River, and improving the Illinois Ozarks habitat for rare songbirds that migrate between Illinois and Central and South America. “Nearly all species native to Illinois are still present in the state’s remaining habitat, even after 200 years of development.” said Moseley. “Our challenge is to ensure that these species persist and thrive into the future.”
Moseley helped start the Conservancy’s China Program and served as its director of conservation science between 2000 and 2005. In this role, he worked with a small team of Conservancy staff to build local and national partnerships and to implement the Conservancy’s systematic conservation methods in China’s eastern Himalayas. Following his experience in China, Moseley took a year-long sabbatical to chronicle his international experience. Prior to his work in China, Moseley worked as an ecologist in Idaho for 25 years with the Conservancy and partner organizations including the U.S. Forest Service.
“We are excited to have Bob join our team and believe he will make a major contribution to conservation efforts in Illinois because he brings such a broad perspective and deep experience from situations that are both similar and different to the challenges we face here in the Midwest,” said Michael Reuter, acting state director.
Moseley is an avid explorer of both physical and social geography. “I have always been interested in challenges, learning, and interacting with new people and landscapes, and that is what excites me about coming to Illinois,” he said. He is particularly interested in the human dimension of conservation. “In China, I saw that the biggest challenges in the future of conservation are in areas that are dominated by humans. The Illinois program appealed to me because it directly addresses conservation of water and land in a highly altered landscape. It will be increasingly important in the future to conduct conservation in landscapes that are human dominated.”
The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 102 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific.
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