IUCN SSC Seahorse, Pipefish and Seadragon Specialist Group

Amanda Vincent is the Chair of the SSC Marine Conservation Committee and Chair of the IUCN SSC Seahorse, Pipefish and Seadragon Specialist Group. She is firmly convinced that we know enough to tackle conservation problems now, even if more information might be valuable. When not volunteering for the IUCN, Amanda is a Professor at the University of British Columbia in Canada. She directs a marine conservation team called Project Seahorse which has won many awards for  its effectiveness at making change by linking research, management and policy together in tight feedback loops.  Amanda has spent much of her life in Latin America and Asia, working with communities in the field and governments in their offices.  She is very proud of her Indianapolis Prize, the leading award for animal conservation.

Originally hailing from Drumheller, Alberta, Canada, I gained a keen interest in science growing up on the banks of the fossil-rich Red Deer River valley. Undergraduate degrees in biology and geography saw me attend field schools in Mediterranean Europe and East Africa. Upon graduation I worked in terrestrial species research and conservation with a variety of government, academic and NGO institutions. I then took up MSc. research at Memorial University of Newfoundland which exposed me to both freshwater and marine research. My broad interests include biodiversity conservation and natural history. I have been a member of the IUCN Species Survival Commission since 2014, first as Red List Authority Coordinator for the Seahorse, Pipefish and Seadragon Specialist Group, then as Programme Officer for the Shark Specialist Group. I worked briefly as Marine Conservation Coordinator for the Indianapolis Zoo at the IUCN SSC Global Center for Species Survival, where I supported the work of the SSC Marine Conservation Committee and all of the marine-focused taxonomic specialist groups. I am a certified Red List trainer and have experience scoping and delineating Key Biodiversity Areas. Currently, I am the Assistant Director of Conservation & Science at the Singapore Oceanarium. 

Elsa holds a BSc in Marine Science from the University of Barcelona and an MSc in Oceans and Fisheries from The University of British Columbia. Her master's thesis explored the potential of using community science to study seahorse species, with a focus on the iSeahorse community science project. During her BSc, she initiated a citizen science project aimed at monitoring microplastic pollution in the coastal waters of Barcelona, a project that continues to thrive. Currently, Elsa is a Research Biologist with Project Seahorse, The University of British Columbia, where she is conducting Red List assessments for syngnathid species and providing valuable support to the iSeahorse project.