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Dr. Sarah Thomas has 20 years of experience working in zoos in the UK and New Zealand. Before relocating to New Zealand in mid-2019, her previous roles included Head of Discovery and Learning at the Zoological Society of London (2011-2019), and the Education, Conservation and Research Manager at Blackpool Zoo (2002-2011) My current role is the Head of Conservation Advocacy and Engagement at Auckland Zoo. This senior leadership role is involved in setting and implementing the organisation’s strategic direction to fulfil Auckland Zoo’s mission ‘to bring people together to build a future for wildlife.’ She heads up a department with a broad range of teams and activities, including conservation learning, conservation training, volunteer programmes, community engagement and outreach, conservation social science, interpretive planning and design, visitor operations, visitor experiences and engagement programmes. Unique to Aotearoa, New Zealand, Kaupapa Māori also sits with her department, focusing on strengthening their relationship with Te Ao Māori (the Māori worldview) to progress their journey as a bi-cultural conservation organisation. She has a mixed academic background – BSc (Hons) in Zoology, Masters (PGCE) in education and a PhD in conservation social science, with a thesis exploring the social dimensions of biodiversity conservation. She is particularly proud of the policy work she has done around raising the standards in zoos and aquariums globally. In 2016, she authored the EAZA (European Association of Zoos and Aquaria) Conservation Education Standards. In 2020, she wrote Social Change for Conservation: The World Zoo and Aquarium Conservation Education Strategy https://www.waza.org/priorities/community-conservation/the-ize-waza-education-strategy/