Emma J. Stokes

Emma has more than 20 years experience of conservation science and management in tropical forests across Africa and Asia, with over 15 years living and working in Central Africa. She holds a degree in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University and a PhD in cognitive ecology from the University of St Andrews and has worked for the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) since 1999.

In her early career, she conducted fieldwork on great apes in Indonesia, Uganda, and Republic of Congo, and coordinated large-scale conservation and monitoring programs for apes and elephants in Northern Congo and for tigers across South-East Asia. Her skills include strategic development and implementation of large-scale field conservation programs. As WCS Africa’s Director of Conservation Science, Emma launched WCS’s strategy for combatting wildlife trafficking in Africa.

As the WCS Regional Director for Central Africa, Emma oversaw field operations in WCS Global’s largest regional portfolio across Gabon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Cameroon and Nigeria where she expanded WCS’s rights-based conservation approach and oversaw significant growth in our conservation impact. As the Vice President of Field Conservation, Emma oversees 13 regional field programs across more than 60 countries worldwide.