Nikolai Kazakov

Nikolai is a Project Manager for a U.S.-based, non-governmental organization, the Wildlife Conservation Society (former Bronx Zoo) in the far eastern part of Russia.  He primarily manages the organization’s local community projects including education, sustainable use of natural resources, wildlife management, habitat management and resource protection.  A special interest is directly linking economic growth with conservation using economic incentives.  A high school teacher by his undergraduate training, Nikolai spent about 10 years living and working in rural communities in Siberia and the Far East. During Perestroika times, Nikolai with his family (a wife and two children) moved to the Sea of Japan port city of Vladivostok.  At this time he decided to change his career and got a job with the U.S. Peace Corps to manage an Environmental project for the Russian Far East territory.  In several years he was lucky to win a fellowship and, after getting his master’s degree in the U.S., Nikolai returned to Russia to introduce new ways of tiger conservation outside of protected areas.  Nikolai enjoys reading, writing for a family newsletter, photography, outdoors and a variety of sports from volleyball and snorkeling to white-water rafting.  In 2000 he won the Lake Fair (Olympia, WA) volleyball tournament in men’s doubles.  For the last three years he has played tennis several times a week and tries not to miss intramural tennis tournaments.