Based in Banff, Alberta, Dr. James Thorsell is a Senior Advisor for World Heritage at the IUCN (World Conservation Union). His education was in an Interdisciplinary Doctorate program in Resource Sciences at UBC with emphasis on resource planning and park management. Beginning as a park ranger in Banff National Park in 1962, Dr. Thorsell worked as a researcher, planner, trainer and project manager in Canada before spending the period from 1979 to 1999 working on international conservation projects. His passion for backcountry travel has fuelled extensive field missions to over 600 protected areas in ninety countries. He has done more than 150 site evaluations for UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee and served as facilitator for the IUCN’s Mountain Protected Area Task Force.

Dr. Thorsell has authored or co-authored more than 300 publications on subjects ranging from the management of tropical forest habitats to World Heritage sites, Biosphere Reserve, and the World Conservation Strategy. He is a world authority on transboundary international peace parks, particularly in mountain areas.