Patricia Medici

Patrícia Medici is a Brazilian conservationist whose main professional interests are tapir conservation, tropical forest conservation, landscape ecology, and communication. Patrícia has a Bachelor's Degree in Forestry Sciences from the São Paulo University (USP - Universidade de São Paulo), a Master's Degree in Wildlife Ecology, Conservation and Management from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG - Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais), Brazil, and a Ph.D. Degree in Biodiversity Management from the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), University of Kent, United Kingdom. For the past 25 years, Patrícia has been working for a Brazilian non-governmental organization called IPÊ - Instituto de Pesquisas Ecológicas (Institute for Ecological Research) of which she was one of the founding members. Since 1996, Patrícia coordinates the Lowland Tapir Conservation Initiative (LTCI) and dedicates her life to the conservation of tapirs and their remaining habitats in Brazil. Since 2000, Patrícia has been the Chairperson of the IUCN SSC Tapir Specialist Group (TSG), a network of over 130 tapir conservationists from 27 different countries worldwide. In 2014, Patrícia became a fellow of the TED Fellowship Program. Patrícia has been honored with several very prestigious conservation awards: Harry Messel Conservation Leadership Award from the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 2004; Future for Nature Award from the Future for Nature Foundation in the Netherlands in 2008; Whitley Award from the Whitley Fund for Nature in the United Kingdom also in 2008; Columbus Zoo Commitment to Conservation Award in 2017; William G. Conway International Conservation Award - Significant Achievement in 2018; and, National Geographic Society Howard Buffett Award for Leadership in Conservation in 2019.