Nina Fascione

Vice President for Field Conservation


Areas of Expertise: human-wildlife conflict resolution, carnivore conservation, North American wildlife conservation, conservation policy

Nina oversees the work of thirty Defenders field staff in eight states and Canada. Field programs are focused on recovery efforts for endangered species and on-the-ground biodiversity conservation initiatives involving local communities. She directs two complementary programs specifically designed to reduce conflicts between wildlife and people—trusts to compensate ranchers and farmers for livestock losses to wolves or grizzly bears, and a fund to support preventive measures against such losses. She established Defenders Livestock Advisory Committee to provide guidance on policies related to our predator compensation trusts, as well as the biennial Carnivore Conference.  Nina serves on the executive committee of the Human-Wildlife Conflict Collaborative and is a co-founder and board chair of the Emerging Wildlife Conservation Leaders. She is a former Board Member of the Red Wolf Coalition, based in North Carolina, and the Wolf Conservation Center, based in New York.

Before joining Defenders in 1995, Nina held positions with the Wildlife Habitat Council, where she worked with private landowners and corporations to develop wildlife-friendly land management practices, and the Zoological Society of Philadelphia, where she provided medical care to the zoo’s wildlife collection and chaired the American Zoo and Aquarium Association’s Bat Taxon Advisory Group for five years.    

Nina has a Master of Applied Anthropology and a B.A. in Anthropology from the University of Maryland, where she examined the human component of wildlife conservation. Nina has authored dozens of journal articles, book chapters and technical reports covering various topics in wildlife science and conservation, and edited the Island Press book People and Predators: From Conflict to Coexistence.