Tom McCarthy

Dr. Tom McCarthy, Panthera's Director of Snow Leopard Programs, began his conservation career studying brown bears, black bears, mountain goats and caribou in Alaska in the early 1980s. A strong interest in international conservation led him to Mongolia in 1992, where, under the guidance of Dr. George Schaller (known as "one of the founding fathers of wildlife conservation"), he took over the management of a long-term snow leopard research project. He was the first biologist to use satellite...See more

Dr. Tom McCarthy, Panthera's Director of Snow Leopard Programs, began his conservation career studying brown bears, black bears, mountain goats and caribou in Alaska in the early 1980s. A strong interest in international conservation led him to Mongolia in 1992, where, under the guidance of Dr. George Schaller (known as "one of the founding fathers of wildlife conservation"), he took over the management of a long-term snow leopard research project. He was the first biologist to use satellite radio-collars on snow leopards. McCarthy became the Science and Conservation Director of the Snow Leopard Trust in 2000 and has since led their extensive science and community-based conservation programs across much of snow leopard range in Asia. From 2002-2009, Dr. McCarthy served as Executive Director of the Snow Leopard Network, a global consortium of more than 200 professionals involved in snow leopard research and conservation. Among other research initiatives, Dr. McCarthy is leading both a range-wide assessment of snow leopard genetics that seeks to identify movement corridors which are critical to maintaining the health and genetic diversity of the species, and a revision of methods by which snow leopard populations can be monitored over time, including such novel non-invasive approaches as fecal genetics, camera trapping and statistical modeling based on sign surveys. See less