Dr James Fitzsimons is Senior Advisor, Global Protection Strategies with The Nature Conservancy. Prior to this he was Director of Conservation and Science for The Nature Conservancy’s Australia Program where he oversaw conservation planning, science, implementation and policy across all the projects the Conservancy worked on throughout the country. He is an Adjunct Professor at the School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University and an Adjunct Professor at the School of Law, University of Tasmania. He has worked in the fields of conservation policy and planning for government environment departments and agencies, and for non-government environment organisations.
His particular research interests are in the fields of protected area policy, practical conservation planning and mechanisms to integrate conservation outcomes on public and private lands. He has published widely and has edited four books, including Linking Australia's Landscapes and Big, Bold and Blue: Lessons from Australia's Marine Protected Areas.