Dr. Patricia Medici is a Brazilian conservationist whose main professional interests are tapir conservation, tropical forest conservation, landscape ecology, and communication. Patrícia has a Bachelor’s Degree in Forestry Sciences from the São Paulo University (USP – Universidade de São Paulo), a Master’s Degree in Wildlife Ecology, Conservation and Management from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG – Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais), Brazil, and a Ph.D. Degree in Biodiversity Management from the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), University of Kent, United Kingdom.

For the past 30 years, Patrícia has been working for a Brazilian non-governmental organization called IPÊ – Instituto de Pesquisas Ecológicas (Institute for Ecological Research) of which she was one of the founding members. Since 1996, Patrícia coordinates the Lowland Tapir Conservation Initiative (LTCI) and dedicates her life to the conservation of tapirs and their remaining habitats in Brazil. Since 2000, Patrícia has been the Chairperson of the IUCN SSC Tapir Specialist Group (TSG), a network of over 130 tapir conservationists from 27 different countries worldwide. Patrícia is a TED Fellow since 2014 and a National Geographic Explorer since 2019.

She has been honored with several prestigious conservation awards: Harry Messel Conservation Leadership Award from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (2004); Future for Nature Award from the Future for Nature Foundation in the Netherlands (2008); Whitley Award from the Whitley Fund for Nature in the United Kingdom (2008); Columbus Zoo Commitment to Conservation Award (2017); William G. Conway International Conservation Award – Significant Achievement (2018); National Geographic Society / Buffett Award for Leadership in Conservation (2019); and, Whitley Gold Award from the Whitley Fund for Nature in the United Kingdom (2020).