Ginette Hemley
Senior Vice President, Wildlife Conservation

Ginette has served on the frontlines of conservation for more than 30 years. Trained in field ecology, Ginette’s expertise also includes strengthening wildlife conservation policies and addressing wildlife trafficking issues. Ginette has spearheaded successful efforts to develop a global response to the poaching crisis and to engage key constituencies in the effort, such as the traditional Chinese medicine community to reduce consumption of endangered species products and the US Congress to enact new legislation to strengthen wildlife enforcement. She is passionate about WWF’s work in the field even though much of her time is now spent in the wilds of Washington DC where she leads the Wildlife Conservation Team.
Under Ginette’s leadership, WWF is committed to ambitious wildlife conservation goals that we are pursuing through high-impact strategies to empower local communities to become true stewards of nature, tackle the consumer demand that is driving illegal wildlife trade, and secure large-scale public, political and financial support for conservation. She believes in fostering innovative approaches to conservation, which has yielded successes like isolating DNA from a spoonful of snow to aid in polar bear tracking and adapting new technologies to help detect and stop poaching in Africa.
Her previous roles at WWF include senior vice president for strategy & science, managing vice president for conservation, and director of TRAFFIC. Prior to joining WWF, she worked for the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
“At WWF, we are relentless in seeking solutions that work. Only by building support across all major interest groups – from local communities to global policy-makers – will we craft solutions to secure a future for our most treasured wildlife species.”
In The News
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NPR
Census Finds Nearly 3,000 Tigers In India
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The Washington Post
These Tigers Were Rescued From an Infamous Tourist Attraction. Then 86 Died in Government Custody.
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Leaders Magazine - Women Leaders
Protecting the Future of Nature
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National Geographic
Elephant Ivory Trade Talks Heat Up in Geneva
More on Ginette
Title
Senior Vice President
Education
• BS in biology from the College of William and Mary
• Studied history and philosophy at Oxford University
• ELIAS Fellow associated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Areas of Expertise
• Wildlife conservation
• Wildlife crime
• Species management
• Community-based conservation