Robert C. Lacy

Robert C. Lacy - Chair of the Conservation Breeding Specialist Group.

"After working for 17 years as a CBSG member, volunteer, and Strategic Associate, Bob accepted the position as Chairman of the CBSG in 2003. Bob also works as a Population Geneticist in the Conservation Biology department of the Chicago Zoological Society (which generously supports his work with the CBSG), and he has a faculty position in the Committee on Evolutionary Biology of the University of Chicago. He has published more than 100 scientific papers on topics ranging from genetics, population biology, evolutionary theory, ecology, behavior, physiology, taxonomy, and conservation. His current scientific interests include the effects of inbreeding on individual fitness and population viability, genetic management of small populations, and the use of simulation models to understand interactions among demographic, genetic, and environmental processes in wildlife populations and to project the impacts of human activities on population dynamics. Bob helped to develop techniques for genetic analysis and management of pedigrees, and he developed the genetic management software used to guide breeding programs of zoos worldwide. He developed the Vortex software for population viability analysis, and is now working with collaborators to link the Vortex model of population dynamics to epidemiological models of disease in wildlife, spatial models of landscape pattern and change, and models of human demography and impacts on the environment. Bob serves on the Small Population Management Advisory Group of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA), is a co-administrator of the AZA Population Management Center, and serves on the board of the International Species Information System."