Leah Gerber

Leah Gerber is founding director of the Center for Biodiversity Outcomes, where she leads a team of staff and scholars to build Arizona State University’s capacity to solve our most pressing biodiversity environmental challenges of the 21st century.

She is a professor of ecology, evolution and environmental sciences with the School of Life Sciences, a faculty affiliate with the Consortium for Science, Policy and Outcomes and a senior sustainability scientist in the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability.

Professor Gerber is a population ecologist and marine conservation biologist who aims to connect science to policies for sustaining the health of the world’s oceans. As a population ecologist, she works at the interface of behavior, population ecology and demography of long-lived marine species. As a conservation biologist, she works with government and non-governmental organizations to ensure that basic research is applied in relevant conservation settings. Learn about the Conservation Innovation Lab: http://conservation-innovation.lab.asu.edu/

She uses empirical and modeling approaches to understand marine systems, and connect academic pursuits in marine biological sciences to tenable decision tools and policy. With a grounding in natural history and primary data collection, quantitative methods, and an appreciation for the interactions between humans and the environment, she has pioneered new approaches in protected area design, population viability analysis and incorporating uncertainty into environmental decision-making.

Gerber has published broadly on life history, dispersal, monitoring, adaptive management, animal behavior and ecosystem-based management. She is the recipient of a National Science Foundation Career Award, a fellow with the Aldo Leopold Leadership Program and serves on the board of the Ecological Society of America. As Founding Director, she aims to accelerate the success of biodiversity management and sustainable biodiversity outcomes by fostering relationships among academics and decision makers.