Rima Jabado

Rima Jabado is the Deputy Chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) and Chair of the IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group. As a scientist and conservationist, she has spent over 20 years developing and working on conservation initiatives globally. She has extensive experience as a field researcher, director for non-profit organizations, government official, and project manager. Her work centers around bridging the gap between science and policy to ensure issues such as bycatch, threatened species conservation, and illegal trade are tackled. Her primary focus has been investigating shark and ray fisheries and trade and combines field work with outreach and advocacy to mobilize and provide policy solutions at the government and community levels. She has led or supervised projects in over 15 countries and her research has been instrumental in influencing decision makers to implement meaningful measures for the protection of species across a range of fisheries.

She is a member of the IUCN Marine Conservation Committee, serves as the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) Appointed Scientific Councilor for Fish, and sits on the Advisory Committee for the CMS Sharks Memorandum of Understanding as the representative of the Asia region. She has also founded the Elasmo Project, a non-profit initiative that encourages and supports work in data-poor areas focused on investigating shark and ray fisheries and trade. She has authored/co-authored over 100 scientific, technical, and popular publications as well as lectured at schools and universities. Rima has received various grants and awards in support and recognition of her work on sharks and rays as well as a Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation.