The Center for Large Landscape Conservation is pleased to announce the addition of two staff members who are helping to lead our programmatic work in the U.S. and worldwide. Project Director Megan Parker and Senior Conservation Scientist Annika Keeley each bring an impressive array of accomplishments in the field of conservation. We are excited to have these two leaders on our team to further elevate our science, policy, and partnership work.
Megan Parker
Project Director
Megan leads the Center’s participation in multiple international projects focused on habitat connectivity, drawing on years of experience working on a variety of conservation efforts across the country and around the globe.
Her career includes co-founding Working Dogs for Conservation, where she led research to develop training and deploy dogs to detect endangered and invasive species, illegally trafficked wildlife, and individual animals with zoonotic disease. She worked on projects with dogs in Africa and Asia as well as North, Central, and South America.
Megan conducted doctorate research in the Okavango Delta of Botswana on behavioral ecology and chemistry of African wild dogs, where she developed a respect and love for working on conservation issues in Africa. She assisted in the reintroduction of wolves to Idaho and worked for a non-profit caretaking a pack of wolves, which reside on Nez Perce lands in Idaho. She also worked for the Peregrine Fund on falcons in Tikal National Park in Guatemala, where she learned to climb tall trees and appreciate tropical forests. All of this work led to the realization that wildlife and livelihoods are threatened most by climate change and human development, so she is thrilled to work with a team that offers solutions that benefit people and wildlife.
She holds a Ph.D. in Fish and Wildlife Biology from the University of Montana and an M.S. in Raptor Ecology from Boise State University.
Annika Keeley
Senior Conservation Scientist
At the Center, Annika provides science leadership and advises on connectivity projects and programs across the organization. She works with the program and executive teams to guide the Center’s science strategy.
Annika has a broad background in ecology and conservation biology and has focused on ecological connectivity in her studies and work. She has contributed to papers on modeling and measuring connectivity, implementing connectivity, and designing climate-wise connectivity. As a member of the Connectivity Conservation Specialist Group, she helped write the IUCN ‘Guidelines for Conserving Connectivity through Ecological Networks and Corridors’. As a co-author, she helped update the book ‘Corridor Ecology – Linking landscapes for biodiversity conservation and climate adaptation’ with the most current science, including a new chapter she wrote on climate-wise connectivity.
In her work, she has also applied adaptive management to ecological programs and projects and synthesized and communicated best available science by organizing workshops and symposia, and communicating technical information to agency, stakeholder, and academic representatives, and the public.
She holds a Ph.D. in Forest Sciences from Northern Arizona University and an M.S. in Wildlife Biology from Southwest Texas State University.
