Laurel Abrams Neme

Laurel Neme has camped in the Kalahari, swum with pink dolphins in the Amazon, and trekked in Tanzania. She’s been feted with chickens in remote Malian villages near Timbuktu, advised World Bank and US Treasury officials on development projects, reported on the Conventional of International Trade in Endangered Species and worked in over a dozen African countries as an international consultant specializing in wildlife and natural resource management. As author of ANIMAL INVESTIGATORS: How the World’s First Wildlife Forensics Lab is Solving Crimes and Saving Endangered Species, she’s learned jungle survival in the Amazon from the Brazilian Federal Police, studied the traditional art of building Siberian Yu'pik walrus skinboats, and examined mammal hair at the USFWS Forensics lab. She’s appeared on ABC News Nightline, NPR’s Science Friday and C-SPAN, among others, and enjoys addressing professional groups such as Interpol’s Wildlife Crime Working Group and the Society of Wildlife Forensic Scientists, and presenting at public venues, such as the American Museum of Natural History and St. Louis Zoo, alike. She writes regularly for Mongabay.com and Earth Negotiations Bulletin, has guest blogged for Animal Planet’s “Animals in the News,” and hosts a weekly radio show in Burlington, Vermont, called “The WildLife,” that features interviews with scientists and other wildlife investigators. She's a fellow at the University of Vermont's Institute for Environmental Diplomacy and Security. She holds a PhD from Princeton University and Master of Public Policy from the University of Michigan.