Dr. Justina Ray
Director

Justina Ray has worked with the Wildlife Conservation Society in various roles since the beginning of her career.  She started as an intern at WCS headquarters in 1987, then secured research fellowships in central Africa and eastern North America. Hired as a staff zoologist in 2002, Justina is now Director of WCS Canada.

While Justina’s research has ranged from tropical rainforests to subarctic taiga, the ecology and conservation of carnivores have been common themes. Over the course of her scientific career, the questions that drive her research have been increasingly rooted in the role of shifting landscapes in biodiversity decline and/or change in forested ecosystems.  These issues include quantifying the impacts of development activities (especially logging and hunting) on biodiversity, the sustainable management of tropical and temperate forests, and global issues in forest carnivore conservation.  In North America, Justina has become increasingly involved in research activities associated with conservation planning in the large intact landscapes of Canada’s northern boreal forests (north of the 51st parallel).

Justina has authored or co-authored more than 20 book chapter, journal, or popular articles, and is lead editor of the forthcoming book Large Carnivores and the Conservation of Biodiversity (Island Press; March, 2005). She is an Adjunct Professor at the Faculty of Forestry, University of Toronto, and a Research Associate at the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation Biology at the Royal Ontario Museum. Other commitments include a chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) and chapter representative for the CPAWS National Board of Trustees.