Our webinar
Title: Tackling illegal and unsustainable wildlife trade with DNA forensics
Time: April 07, 2022, Thursday, 6:00-7:00 pm (Vancouver time) /April 08, 2022, Friday, 9:00-10:00 am (GMT+8)
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Dr. Huarong Zhang
Dr. Huarong Zhang is a senior conservation geneticist at Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden in Hong Kong SAR. He studied Forestry for his Bachelor from Beijing Forestry University and continued further his PhD in Forest Science, especially focusing on Conservation Genetics from Northern Arizona University in the USA. After working shortly in the USA, he joined Flora Conservation Department at Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden in Hong Kong. At KFBG, he manages the Conservation Genetics Laboratory and strives to translate lab data into useful information for nature conservation. Through collaboration with local and international partners, he has been engaged in developing conservation projects targeting key threatened species using cutting-edge genetic techniques. He runs various projects looking at genetic diversity of native plants, as well as DNA and trade data to tackle the illegal wildlife trade. He also co-supervises PhD students and lab student interns from universities in Hong Kong.
Abstract
Illegal and unsustainable wildlife trade remains a major challenge in biodiversity conservation. To help tackle this issue, I will share our approach of using DNA forensics for wildlife trade monitoring and nature conservation. Through studying illegal trade (pangolin seizures) and legal market (medicinal orchids and shark fins), we uncover complicated species patterns and trade routes using both DNA and trade data.
