Sharon Stuart Glaeser, Ph.D.
ORTWS Board Member (2022 – 2024)
Current position: Conservation Program Assistant, Oregon Zoo
Biographical Sketch: Dr. Sharon Stuart Glaeser is a conservation program assistant with the Oregon Zoo, coordinating the zoo’s global efforts to protect Asian elephants in their range countries. Currently, she represents the zoo in a collaborative partnership with the Malaysian state of Sabah on the island of Borneo, focusing on long-term strategies for conserving wildlife there, and serves on an international advisory group for Sabah’s wildlife department, working to support elephants that have been brought under human care.
Through more than 15 years of collaboration with an international community of researchers, veterinarians, animal handlers, conservationists, and wildlife managers, Sharon has developed an evidence-based approach to animal welfare and a keen understanding of the challenges conservationists face along the human-wildlife interface. As a founding Director and committee chair and member in multiple organizations, she has been integral in strategic planning, defined and implemented granting programs, and written and reviewed proposals on ecological and species-level projects. She has taught university courses and workshops in a variety of settings, from pinniped observation field studies in Oregon to an animal behavior workshops in Sri Lanka.
Sharon holds a Ph.D. in animal welfare and conservation science from Portland State University, an M.Sc. in biology with a focus on animal communication, and a B.Sc. in electrical engineering. Her doctoral research evaluated Asian elephant responses to physiological, social, and environmental changes in a zoo environment.