Nadine Lamberski
Chief Conservation and Wildlife Health Officer
San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance
Dr Nadine Lamberski is chief conservation and wildlife health officer at San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance (SDZWA), where she leads teams across wildlife health, conservation science, and species recovery. She has more than three decades’ experience in zoological medicine and wildlife conservation.
Lamberski joined the San Diego Zoo Safari Park’s veterinary team in 2001 and became part of the organisation’s executive leadership in 2016. In 2020, she took on her current role, leading the combined conservation science and wildlife health teams. The Alliance’s conservation work is organised into eight regional hubs.
A graduate of the University of Georgia’s College of Veterinary Medicine, Lamberski is board-certified in zoological medicine and holds specialist qualifications from the American College of Zoological Medicine and the European College of Zoological Medicine. She is a past president of the American Association of Zoo Veterinarians and an adjunct professor at the University of California, Davis. She has contributed to more than 100 scientific publications and presentations and is co-editor of Fowler’s Zoo and Wild Animal Medicine.
Her work also includes wildlife health and biobanking initiatives, including efforts to use genetic material to support species conservation.
"The future of wildlife conservation is effective leadership—authentic, transparent, empathetic, nimble, and resilient leadership that makes space for all voices to be heard," said Lamberski.
