Dr. Jake Owens
Dr. Jake Owens is an international conservationist and researcher with a BS in Biology from Stockton University and PhD in Environmental Science from Drexel University. For his PhD, Jake performed the first focal study on the ecology and behavior of the Bioko Island drill, a highly endangered monkey found only on Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea. He later spent more than five years in China co-developing a novel release program for giant pandas at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. Jake became the first Director of Conservation at the Los Angeles Zoo in 2019 where he is leading the expansion of the Zoo’s conservation impact through new partnerships and programs in Los Angeles and around the globe to help create a just and sustainable world where people and wildlife thrive, together. Jake is an active member of the Los Angeles Biodiversity Expert Council and multiple IUCN Species Survival Commission Specialist Groups.