Tom W. Brown

Tom W. Brown is a British herpetologist who began studying amphibians and reptiles in Honduras during the course of his Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science (BSc) at Plymouth University, UK. Since graduating in 2014, Tom has participated in six expeditions to Cusuco National Park as part of Operation Wallacea herpetology staff, and as of 2016, has been part of the full-time management and research team at Kanahau Utila Research & Conservation Facility based on Utila Island. From 2019-2020, he completed a Master of Research (MRes) on Utila's endemic Anolis lizards in collaboration with the University of Nottingham, UK. His current focus is researching all aspects of Utila’s biodiversity, with a particular interest in the conservation of its endemic herpetofauna. Tom has authored over 40 scientific journal articles as a result of his work in Central America, and contributed to the Honduran IUCN SSC Reptile/Iguana Specialist Group species assessments 2020. He is a member of the Red-MesoHerp Network and through his work at Kanahau Wildlife Conservation, hopes to continue documenting data to inform, influence, and inspire conservation action for threatened species and ecosystems.

At Kanahau, Tom is responsible for developing and supervising a wide range of biological studies focused on various taxa. His main area of expertise is herpetology, but his primary passion is the overall research and conservation of neotropical biodiversity, including taxonomy, ecology, natural history and behaviour. He has experience working with reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates, bats, mammals, birds, and is an avid publisher of species data and natural history observations. Tom is always keen to undertake, collaborate on, or supervise novel research projects.