John Thorbjarnarson John Thorbjarnarson is a Senior Conservation Zoologist in the Science and Exploration Program and coordinates the WCS Global Crocodile Conservation Program. He began his field work with crocodilians as a graduate student at the University of Florida, working first in the Dominican Republic and Haiti on American crocodile, and later for his PhD in Venezuela on the ecology and management of the spectacled caiman and the conservation of the critically endangered Orinoco crocodile.  After his PhD he expanded WCS reptile conservation efforts in Venezuela by initiating projects on endangered river turtles and the first ever ecological study of the anaconda, the world’s largest snake.  In 1993 he moved to New York where he worked as the WCS Assistant Director for Latin America.  Parallel to the administrative responsibilities for the Latin America program, he continued the development of field programs on turtles and crocodile, working principally in the Brazilian Amazon. In 1997 he began working full time to coordinate WCS international conservation efforts on reptiles, focusing on crocodilians and turtles in China, Southeast Asia, Central Africa and Cuba.  He has authored over 100 articles on reptile ecology and conservation and compiled the first IUCN Crocodile Action Plan.  Since 2001 he has been based in Gainsville, Florida.