Uygar Özesmi

Dr. Uygar is an environmental and nature conservation activist since 1985. He was advisor to the Turkish Minister of State for the Environment (1989-90), received his MSc. in Environmental Science from Ohio State University under a Fulbright Scholarship, his PhD as a MacArthur Scholar in Conservation Biology as well as Development and Social Change at the University of Minnesota. He was Assistant Professor and Chair of Environmental Science at Erciyes University (2000-04); Environmental Specialist at the United Nations Development Program Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme (2004-06); and General Director of TEMA, the largest Turkish environmental NGO (2006-08). Since 2008, he is Executive Director of Greenpeace Mediterranean. Uygar was founding chairman of Doğa Derneği (2002), founding member of Civil Society Development Center, and is on the board of the CIVICUS World Alliance for citizen participation. He has published over 90 scholarly papers, countless popular articles and a book. He also has a daily radio program.