Turtle Conservancy

Eric Goode is an American entrepreneur and conservationist, whose conservation work has been profiled on 60 Minutes, The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, Charlie Rose as well as highlighted in the feature documentary film, Racing Extinction. Eric is the founder of the Turtle Conservancy, a global conservation organization whose mission is to preserve and protect natural ecosystems, focusing on turtles and tortoises, other wildlife, and their habitats for the benefit of humanity and the Earth’s biological diversity. Goode created a conservation center and retreat located in Ojai, California that serves as an assurance colony for endangered turtles and tortoises. The conservation center is the only AZA-accredited captive-breeding facility dedicated solely to turtles and tortoises in the world. Eric is the publisher and co-editor of The Tortoise magazine, a high-end conservation annual publication of the Turtle Conservancy. He also created the Turtle Ball, an annual fundraising event that brings together artists, celebrities, philanthropists, and conservationists for a festive evening that shines a light on the global turtle extinction crisis.

Among other accomplishments, Eric and the Turtle Conservancy established the first nature preserve in South Africa dedicated to the protection of the Critically Endangered Geometric Tortoise. He helped form the Sinaloan Nature Preserve for the protection of Goode’s Thornscrub Tortoise, which was recently named after Goode (Gopherus evgoodei) in recognition of his passion for the smaller forgotten creatures on the planet.

Eric has focused much of his effort on in range conservation initiatives around the world, making expeditions to over forty countries, including Madagascar, Thailand, China, Myanmar, Namibia, Brazil, Indonesia, and Mauritius. On his travels he has filmed and produced a number of documentaries featuring his conservation interests and experiences in the field. Having personally witnessed the decline and virtual disappearance of many common species, he is determined to make a difference both locally and in the far corners of the Earth.

Goode has authored and co-authored over 20 academic publications and popular articles on subjects ranging from the plight of the world’s rarest tortoise, the Ploughshare in Madagascar, to the reproductive biology of turtles, to Pacific Pond Turtles in his own backyard of California. He is currently in production on a feature documentary film, working with Executive Producers Fisher Stevens, Chris Smith and Rebecca Chaiklin.

Eric Goode currently sits on the boards of Rainforest Trust, the Chelonian Research Institute, the Turtle Conservation Fund, and the advisory council of Global Wildlife Conservation and is a member of the Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group.

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