After an extensive search, Durrell, the global conservation organisation founded by Gerald Durrell, has appointed Dr Lesley Dickie as its new Chief Executive. She will take up her new role in Jersey in October.
Durrell's mission to save species from extinction through four main activities: field conservation, training, research and captive breeding, principally at the famous wildlife park based in Jersey.
Dr Dickie began her zoos career at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland as a records and zookeeper at Edinburgh Zoo. After completing field work in Madagascar and finishing a doctorate, she began working at the Zoological Society of London, latterly as Zoo Conservation Programme Manager.
From 2008 to 2014, she was the Executive Director of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria, based in Amsterdam, bringing in strategic changes, developing a closer working relationship with the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) and launching a research journal and training academy.