Nerissa Chao

Director

Nerissa Chao_round

Nerissa is a conservation biologist with nearly 20 years of experience managing and implementing conservation field programmes. She began her career in Botswana as a research assistant, before working in Gabon, Rwanda and Kenya for international and local NGOs, both within protected areas and on community land. During this time she worked on a wide range of conservation issues including species conservation, protected area management, human-wildlife conflict, community-based conservation, and ecotourism.

Nerissa moved to Asia in 2014, and was based in Viet Nam where she was overseeing conservation projects in the Mekong Delta. Now based in Singapore, Nerissa has been leading the IUCN SSC Asian Species Action Partnership (ASAP) since 2016, a conservation partnership platform created to address species extinctions in Southeast Asia. During this time, ASAP has grown to be a network of nearly 200 Partner organisations and has developed programmes to support ASAP Partners including grant giving and capacity development.