DrJulian Fennessy

As the Director of Conservation and Co-Founder of GCF, I coordinate all giraffe conservation efforts as the technical expert. I have over 25 years experience in species and habitat ecology, conservation and land management throughout the African continent as well as in Australia. In the field of giraffe conservation, my work has ranged from individual field projects, supervision of students, population and country-wide assessments, to expert advisor on national and regional conservation strategies and action plans. I have conducted numerous conservation expeditions across all regions of the Africa continent, and worked with all giraffe species and subspecies. I co-founded the IUCN SSC Giraffe & Okapi Specialist Group and recently retired as Co-Chair after providing inspirational leadership to the group for 12 years. I hold a PhD in Biological Science from the University of Sydney, Australia based on my initial work in Namibia – the ecology of the desert-dwelling giraffe in Namibia’s northwest. My diverse skill base provides a solid science and conservation foundation from which GCF can grow.