OUR WORK
OUR INSPIRATION: GEORGE MELÉNDEZ WRIGHT
George Meléndez Wright (1904–1936) was an American biologist who conceived of, then conducted, the first scientific survey of wildlife for the US National Park Service. Among his many contributions, Wright pioneered a holistic approach to conservation in the national parks and beyond. The GWS honors the vision of this pioneering thinker and doer.
OUR VISION
To be the premier organization connecting peoples, places, knowledges, and ideas to foster excellence in cultural and natural resource management, research, protection, and interpretation in place-based conservation.
OUR VALUES AND IMPACT
Drawing on core values of integrity, respect, inclusion, and collaborative curiosity, we unite diverse communities around a common passion for protecting Earth’s natural and cultural heritage, creating the sustainable stewardship needed to meet today’s greatest conservation challenges.
OUR MISSION
The George Wright Society supports parks, protected/conserved areas, cultural sites, and other place-based conservation by encouraging communication and learning among researchers, managers, educators, practitioners, and the public to facilitate informed decisions and actions that embrace our values.
OUR STRATEGIC DIRECTIONS
There are four Strategic Directions that guide our work:
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Advocate for the effective management and expansion of place-based conservation
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Provide opportunities for all people to better connect with each other and with our shared natural and cultural resources
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Foster leadership and resilience to meet the fast-changing dynamics of place-based conservation
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Sustain the GWS mission and vision into the future
Our current (2026–2028) Strategic Directions document provides top-level guidance for our work. You can read the current document here.
WHAT SETS US APART:
INTERDISCIPLINARY
CONSERVATION
THINKING
GWS’s unique role is to foster interdisciplinary place-based conservation. Specialist organizations and subject-matter professional societies create essential knowledge. GWS operates one level up from that endeavor: we provide opportunities for specialists to go beyond their usual mental boundaries and see how what they know connects with, and complements, what other specialists know. GWS nurtures the kind of context-aware thinking needed to tackle complex conservation problems.
How we work: Convening
The learning spaces we create are both physical and virtual. We convene opportunities for people to come together in person: face-to-face events that expand communication networks, support mentoring, and build the capacity of park and protected area stewards, cultural and natural resource managers, scientists and other scholars, and teachers and students. We also help create these goods by nurturing a virtual global community of stewardship through publications and online interactions.
What we create: Innovation
Innovation only comes from open minds. Open minds thrive in a collegial atmosphere that encourages people to think outside their silo, beyond their usual point of view. GWS is the only conservation organization that exists specifically to bring people together from a wide range of points of view in settings designed to allow open-mindedness to flourish. By doing this, GWS creates space for multidimensional learning and collaboration that leads to innovative conservation action.