Royal School of Veterinary Studies and the Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh, Midlothian, EH25 9RG, UK
TRACE Wildlife Forensics Network, Edinburgh, EH12 6LE, UK
Rob Ogden is Director of Conservation Science at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies and the Roslin Institute, at the University of Edinburgh. He works across the fields of conservation genomics and wildlife forensics, applying DNA tools to wildlife management and law enforcement.
His involvement in wildlife forensics began in 2004 and since then he has spent much of his time conducting casework, developing methods or providing training in the UK, Africa and Southeast Asia. In addition to terrestrial wildlife, Rob has a strong focus on developing DNA applications to help tackle IUU fishing. A population geneticist by training, he has published widely on the subject of wildlife DNA forensics and has a peculiar liking for forensic genetic statistics.
Alongside his academic post Rob is programme director of TRACE Wildlife Forensics Network, a specialist international wildlife forensic NGO. He held the position of President of the Society for Wildlife Forensic Science from 2015-2019 and has regularly acted as a wildlife forensic expert for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. He sits on the UK wildlife forensics working group and is a past member of the US national wildlife forensic committee.