Alex Dehgan

Alex Dehgan writes from direct experience at the meeting point of conservation biology, diplomacy, and institutional change. The Snow Leopard Project recounts his work as founding country director of the Wildlife Conservation Society's Afghanistan program, where scientists surveyed wildlife, trained local partners, and helped establish Band-e-Amir as the country's first national park. PublicAffairs published the book in 2019 under the full title The Snow Leopard Project: And Other Adventures in Warzone Conservation. Its field narrative ranges from the Pamir Mountains and elusive snow leopards to the legal and civic structures required for lasting protection. Dehgan later served as USAID's chief scientist and co-founded Conservation X Labs, applying technology and open innovation to extinction problems. Those roles clarify the book's central argument: conservation succeeds through relationships, credible science, and institutions built with communities. Nature selected the work among its notable science books of 2019, recognizing its unusual account of research under political instability.