Nicole Duplaix Fls

Experience

1. Co-chair,

   Oregon State University Foundation

   Jan 2007 — Present

   Founder and current Chair of the Otter Specialist Group (OSG), a global conservation network for otters, International Union for the Conservation of Nature, Species Survival Commission. We have 285 members in 63 countries. Major otter conservation programs are currently underway in Brazil, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Mexico, Costa Rica, United States, United Kingdom, Sweden, France, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Spain, Italy, Ireland, Slovenia, South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Bening. Our special focus are the four species of threatened Asian otters. The hunting and trade in Asian otters has reached crisis proportions in Asia in the last ten years(TRAFFIC, 2009). The four threatened Asian otter species receive little protection and remainpoorly studied. Already otters have been systematically trapped and extirpated from most of therivers in Myanmar, Lao PDR, and the northern regions of Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia.Foreign traffickers train local fishermen and trappers to catch otters and preserve their pelts andbody parts for illegal export to China for the fur and medicine markets. All three SoutheastAsian otter species are now experiencing precipitous population declines. Curbing the illegal trade in otters became the most urgent concern and highest priority for the OSG in 2007 and beyond. We are collaborating with TRAFFIC-Southeast Asia and developing otter recovery strategies and projects in 13 Asian countries. Our 13th International Otter Congress will be held in Singapore in July, 2016.

Education

• Ste Marie de Passy, Paris, France

  Baccalaureat, Letters

  1959 — 1962

• Paris-Sud University (Paris XI)

  Doctorat d'Universite, Biologie Animale

  1969 — 1981

• Manhattanville University

  Biology

  1963 — 1965

Skills

• Teaching
• Grant Writing
• Field Work
• Biodiversity
• Biology
• Natural Resource Management
• Environmental Awareness
• Wildlife Management
• Environmental Science
• Environmental Education
• Fisheries
• Environmental Policy
• Global Conservation
• Wildlife
• Sustainability
• Wildlife Conservation
• Animal Ecology
• Conservation Issues
• Science
• Ecology
• Endangered Species
• Nonprofits