Heidi Ruffler

Heidi Ruffler International Associate


Areas of Expertise: Wildlife trade, invasive species

Heidi works on a range of issues, including illegal logging and deforestation, legal and illegal wildlife trade, amphibian declines and wildlife disease. She was a co-author on the report, Broken Screens: The Regulation of Live Animal Imports in the United States.

Heidi joined Defenders as an intern in 2006. Before coming to Defenders, Heidi spent four years running the volunteer program for the Wildlife Conservation Society's Prospect Park Zoo in Brooklyn, NY and worked as a field biologist studying social behavior in white-faced capuchins in Costa Rica. She has participated in volunteer work in Europe, Africa, and the United States.

Heidi holds an M.S. in Sustainable Development and Conservation Biology at the University of Maryland, College Park, a certificate in Conservation Biology from Columbia University's Center for Environmental Research and Conservation (CERC), and a dual degree B.S. in Zoology and Psychology from the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom.

Contact Information
Email: heidi.ruffler@defenders.org