Manager, Conservation Science, Taronga Conservation Society Australia

Dr Justine O’Brien is a University of Sydney graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture and a PhD in Veterinary Science for her work on gamete biology and assisted reproduction. She has more than 20 years’ experience in wildlife reproductive research, specialising in strategies that enhance natural and assisted breeding efforts, for maintaining population genetic diversity and reproductive health across multiple taxa (mammals, birds, amphibians and corals).  

Justine was co-founder and Scientific Director of the Species Preservation Lab (formerly the SeaWorld and Busch Gardens Reproductive Research Center) for 12 years, working closely with other leading zoological organisations including the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden. She has led or supported the development of wildlife biorepositories of living, cryopreserved cells at various zoo-based labs worldwide, notable for their high-quality control systems and processes, and for their application in producing live offspring on a repeatable basis.  

Justine joined the Taronga Conservation Society Australia in 2017 where her role is to manage and support a multidisciplinary science team and work with government and non-government organisations to undertake and embed rigorous science in programs conserving biological diversity, ecological processes and systems. The team works in partnership with Aboriginal staff of Taronga’s Community and Cultural Programs division and external First Nations partners to ensure that Taronga’s science-based conservation and recovery programs are structured to integrate Cultural Knowledge to support ‘right way’ conservation. Her research interests continue to focus on understanding reproductive physiology and to incorporate knowledge derived from zoo-based scientific programs into health assessments and conservation strategies for free-ranging wildlife populations. She holds multiple advisory positions in wildlife reproductive health, is an Honorary Associate at the School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney and an Adjunct Associate Professor at the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of NSW.