Luigi Boitani

Prof. Boitani is Head of the Department of Animal and Human Biology (Dipartimento di Biologia Animale e dell'Uomo), University of Rome, "La Sapienza", Italy. Additional positions held are: Full Professor of Vertebrate Zoology and Animal Ecology; Affiliated Professor at the Department of Natural Resources, Idaho University, Moscow and member of the College of Graduate Studies (since May 2000). Prof. Boitani is President Elect of the Society for Conservation Biology and member of the Ecological Society of America, The Wildlife Society; American Society of Mammalogy; Unione Zoologica Italiana; Istituto Ecologia Applicata, Rome (President).

Prof. Boitani has been in charge of an extended series of research and conservation projects on the wolf population in Italy: responsibilities included managing both the research on the ecology and behaviour of wolves and the conservation program through the field work of students, researchers, helpers, and the participation of colleagues from USA (US Fish and Wildlife Service, University of Minnesota), Germany (Max-Planck Institute fur Verhaltenphysiologie, University of Saarbrucken), and UK (Oxford University).

Prof. Boitani had various professional appointments. He is founder and President of the Institute of Applied Ecology, IEA, Rome, 1987. IEA is a highly qualified non-profit organization for research and teaching environmental issues. He has been associated with the Species Survival Commission (SSC) of IUCN-World Conservation Union (Gland, Switzerland) since 1973 and has been member of the Steering Committee for the past 15 years..

Prof. Boitani authored more than 200 peer reviewed scientific publications, 75 Technical Reports, and 8 books of which a list is available on request. His papers reflect his interests that reach over the ecology, management and conservation of various species of vertebrates. Prof. Boitani is a world leading authority on wolves, and many papers and books are centered on wolf biology, wolf management and human attitudes towards wolves (example, Mech, L. David and Luigi Boitani. Wolves: Behavior, Ecology and Conservation. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, November 2003).