Operation Wallacea
George Lonsdale is an accomplished herpetologist and climbing enthusiast with significant experience in both environmental education and specialized wildlife research. Currently serving as Head Routesetter at The Climbing Hangar since January 2021, George has also held roles as Senior Herpetologist and Venomous Snake Specialist with Operation Wallacea, focusing on venomous snakes within Honduras' Cusuco National Park and supervising student projects. As a core presenter at Kendal Mountain Festival since November 2016, George engages diverse audiences through interactive film sessions. Past experiences include guest speaking on Celebrity Cruises and educational presentations at schools, promoting awareness of wildlife conservation and ecological concepts. George holds a Research Master's in Biological Sciences from the University of Plymouth and a B.Sc. in International Wildlife Biology from the University of South Wales.
Operation Wallacea
Operation Wallacea is a series of biological and social science expedition projects that operate in remote locations across the world. These expeditions are designed with specific wildlife conservation aims in mind - from identifying areas needing protection, through to implementing and assessing conservation management programmes. Large teams of university academics, who are specialists in various aspects of biodiversity or social and economic studies, are concentrated at the target study sites. Research Assistants and dissertation students joining the surveys have the option of customising their own itinerary from a range of training and science options. The surveys result in a large number of publications in peer-reviewed journals each year, have resulted in 30 vertebrate species new to science being discovered, 4 'extinct' species being re-discovered and $2 million levered from funding agencies to set up best practice management examples at the study sites. These large survey teams of academics and volunteers that are funded independently of normal academic sources have enabled large temporal and spatial biodiversity and socio-economic data sets to be produced, and provide information to help with organising effective conservation management programmes.