Titles

• Director of Key Biodiversity Areas and Species Assessment, Global Wildlife Conservation
• Adjunct Professor, School of Life Sciences, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Biography

Penny Langhammer is Director of Key Biodiversity Areas and Species Assessment at Global Wildlife Conservation. She is an adjunct professor of biology in the School of Life Sciences and an affiliate researcher with the Center for Biodiversity Outcomes. With CBO, Penny leads a Science for Nature and People Partnership (SNAPP) working group focused on documenting, measuring and valuing ecosystem services delivered by Key Biodiversity Areas. As co-chair of the IUCN WCPA/SSC Joint Task Force on Biodiversity and Protected Areas, Penny led the development of a global standard for the identification of Key Biodiversity Areas. This new standard consolidates the quantitative criteria and thresholds for identifying sites that contribute significantly to the global persistence of biodiversity.

In addition to Key Biodiversity Areas, Penny’s research interests include assessing the impact of conservation action and understanding the role of emerging infectious diseases in species extinction. She serves as co-facilitator of the Infectious Diseases Working Group of the IUCN-SSC Amphibian Specialist Group and co-led the Reaching Conservation Goals stream at the IUCN World Parks Congress 2014 in Sydney, Australia. Prior to earning a PhD in biology from Arizona State University in 2013, Penny spent nine years working at Conservation International, providing scientific support to CI programs and partners in conservation planning and priority-setting. She has worked in more than 20 countries around the world.

Education

• PhD, Biology, Arizona State University, 2013
• MEM, Environmental Management, Duke University
• BS, Psychology, Arizona State University