Richard Reading, Ph.D. is the Vice President of Science and Conservation at Butterfly Pavilion. He serves as an Adjunct Professor within the Department of Biology at the University of Denver; Affiliate Faculty with the Department of Agricultural Biology at Colorado State University; and a Fellow with the University of Nebraska’s Center for Great Plains Studies. Rich was appointed to the Colorado Parks & Wildlife Commission in 2022. Dr. Reading received a Ph.D. and three Master’s degrees from Yale University in Wildlife Ecology and Human Dimensions of Wildlife and an Honorary Doctorate from the National Education University of Mongolia. In 2020, Rich was honored to receive the Order of the Polar Star, the highest honor from the Mongolian National Government for expatriates, for contributions to conservation. He has conducted or overseen projects in dozens of countries, working primarily on grassland and arid ecosystems on six continents, with a focus on the Great Plains of N. America, the steppes and deserts of Mongolia, the savannahs and deserts of Botswana, and the Altiplano of Peru. His work focuses on developing pragmatic, effective, and interdisciplinary approaches to the conservation of wildlife and protected areas through research, capacity development, and working with local people and governments. Dr. Reading serves on the boards of directors or advisors for several non-profit organizations in the U.S. and overseas; serves as an associate editor for 5 scientific journals; has published over 230 scientific papers and book chapters; written dozens of popular articles; and written or edited 9 books.

For the Spring 2024 issue, Rich recommended Wild New World: The Epic Story of Animals and People in America, Dan Flores, W.W. Norton & Co., 2022, 448 pages.

For the Winter 2022-2023 issue, Rich recommended Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, Jared Diamond, WW Norton, 1999, 480 pages.

For the Autumn 2022 issue, Rich recommended The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, Elizabeth Kolbert, Henry Holt & Company, 2014, 336 pages.