Research Fellow
Catherine E. Semcer is a Research Fellow with the Property and Environment Research Center (PERC) where her work focuses on rights and market based solutions to policy challenges in environmental security, conservation finance and sustainability.
Catherine is the past COO of Humanitarian Operations Protecting Elephants (H.O.P.E.), a boutique NGO delivering training, advisory, assistance and procurement services to African counter-poaching programs. During her tenure with H.O.P.E. she was responsible for leading the opening of projects in Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Ethiopia.
Prior to working with H.O.P.E. Catherine served as Senior Washington D.C. Representative for Sierra Club, where she worked to advance conservation programs in the Department of Defense to increase training range sustainability. Catherine began her career with McKinsey & Company where she supported the Environmental and Non-Profit Practices. She is a member of the Sustainable Use and Livelihoods Specialist Group of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Protected Areas Finance Working Group of the Conservation Finance Alliance, the African Studies Association, and the Southern African Wildlife Management Association. Her research and analysis have appeared in the International Journal of Environmental Studies, The Hill, and other publications, and she has been featured as a debater on Intelligence Squared US.
Catherine is a graduate of Muhlenberg College. In her spare time she enjoys fly fishing, upland bird and waterfowl hunting, and, sailing.
Statement prepared by Catherine Semcer and presented by Hannah Downey for the U.S. Department of the Interior's International Wildlife Conservation Council on market approaches for wildlife conservation in Africa.
A podcast on the role of incentives in preserving wildlife in Africa.
Saving the species depends on harnessing American investment.
Proposed reforms to Botswana's wildlife sector will serve the conservation and regional security interests of both Botswana and the United States.
Arbitrary decisions about trophy imports undermine conservation efforts and economic opportunity.
