Richard Reading

Richard Reading, Ph.D. "is the Director of Conservation Biology at the Denver Zoological Foundation, a department he founded in 1996. He is also an Associate Research Professor at the University of Denver, where he teaches and advises graduate students, and holds affiliations with Colorado State University, Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Northern Rockies Conservation Cooperative, and Nature Conservation International (Berlin).

"Dr. Reading earned his Ph.D. in Wildlife Ecology from Yale University in 1993. The title of his dissertation was "Toward an Endangered Species Reintroduction Paradigm: A Case Study of the Black-footed Ferret." He also holds 3 Master’s degrees from Yale, a B.S. in Biology from Trinity College (Hartford, Connecticut), and conducted graduate and undergraduate studies and research at the Duke University Marine Laboratory. Rich serves on the boards of directors of the Argali Wildlife Research Center (Mongolia), Denver-Ulaanbaatar Sister Cities Association, Idea Wild, and Mongolian Conservation Coalition (President), and the advisory boards of the Center for Native Ecosystems, Southern Plains Land Trust, and the Grasslands Foundation. He has published >100 technical publications in several journals and books; written or edited 10 books, dissertations, or special issues of journals; and produced dozens of popular articles, abstracts, and book reviews.

"Dr. Reading has conducted research or consulted on conservation projects in several countries on 5 continents, primarily the Great Plains of the U.S. and the Gobi Desert of Mongolia over the past decade or so. A major focus of Rich's research has been on developing interdisciplinary approaches to conservation."

"He received his Ph.D. in Wildlife Ecology from Yale Graduate School, where he was President of the Yale Chapter of the Wildlife Society."