Dr. Ron Sutherland leads and coordinates Wildlands Network’s science programs across North America, with an emphasis on habitat connectivity mapping, road ecology, and species conservation. He also directs an extensive camera-trapping project in the red wolf recovery area in North Carolina, and is an enthusiastic public advocate for red wolf conservation. Ron has testified on conservation matters before Congressional staff in DC on several occasions, and has been extensively quoted in national and international media including the Washington Post, The Guardian, USA Today, and the Associated Press.

Ron received his Ph.D. in Environmental Science and Policy in 2009 from the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University, where he studied the response of wildlife to urbanization and vehicle traffic in the Sandhills region of North Carolina. Ron earned a B.S. in Biology from North Carolina State University and an M.S. in Conservation Biology and Sustainable Development from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Between 2013–2015, Ron co-led a successful and award-winning campaign to save the 79,000-acre Hofmann Forest in eastern North Carolina from being sold to and destroyed by private buyers.

Ron lives in Durham, North Carolina with his wife and three children, plus two dogs.