Steve Osofsky

Steve Osofsky, D.V.M., first experienced East Africa in 1984-85 as a Harvard University Traveling Fellow, observing wildlife species in Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda while examining conservation challenges from a variety of perspectives including those of local people, NGOs, and governments. As a veterinarian, he has worked in a variety of domestic and international contexts, with his most recent overseas post being that of the first Wildlife Veterinary Officer for the Botswana Department of Wildlife and National Parks. Dr. Osofsky worked directly for the Government of Botswana, and was able to have an active role in hands-on wildlife management as well as policy formulation. He has also worked in the zoological community, and served as the Director of Animal Health Services at the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center in Texas. As an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science and Diplomacy Fellow, he served as a Biodiversity Program Specialist at USAID and focused on: ground-truthing Integrated Conservation and Development Projects; providing technical advice on wildlife management; and working with the USFWS on the Rhino-Tiger and African Elephant Grants Programs, on CITES policy, etc.

Dr. Osofsky's program / policy interests include: park/buffer zone management and planning; linking wildlife conservation and sustainable development; conflicts at the livestock-wildlife interface (problem predator issues, disease concerns); endangered species management; linking wildlife research to management needs, as well as in situ and ex situ wildlife veterinary medicine. He is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland, and also serves on eight IUCN SSC Specialist Groups. Dr. Osofsky had been with the World Wildlife Fund since 1998, serving as their Director, Field Support for species programs in Asia and Africa. In December 2002, he left WWF to join the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Field Veterinary Program (FVP) as the Society’s first Senior Policy Advisor for Wildlife Health. Helping the Field Veterinary Program to expand into the policy arena is an exciting challenge, one that logically builds upon the scientific and hands-on fieldwork that has long been the FVP’s hallmark.