IUCN Director General to Speak at Esri International User Conference

REDLANDS, Calif., July 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Julia Marton-Lefevre, director general of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the world's largest conservation/environment membership organization, will speak at the Esri International User Conference (Esri UC) in San Diego, California, on July 23, 2012. Esri is the largest developer of geographic information system (GIS) technologies in the world.

(Logo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110425/LA88950LOGO)

Distinguished in the global conservation community for her commitment to the sustainable management of natural resources, Marton-Lefevre will talk about how IUCN champions the idea of valuing and conserving nature and using nature-based solutions to advance human well-being.

"Our mission is to influence society to conserve nature and natural resources in an equitable and sustainable manner," said Marton-Lefevre. "I am glad to be the keynote speaker at the Esri UC this year, because Esri and IUCN share a common vision of harmony between nature and people." 

Of particular interest to the Esri UC audience of GIS enthusiasts will be Marton-Lefevre's discussion of the upcoming release of the map browser for the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the world standard for measuring the extinction risk of plant and animal species. This online interactive map service is built on Esri's ArcGIS 10.1 for Server. Website visitors can easily explore the globe as they examine the abundance of scientific data available for threatened species and see the range of these species on a map.

"Using cutting-edge geographic knowledge, IUCN mobilizes conservation action for the benefit of nature and all the seven billion people who depend on it," added Marton-Lefevre.

Marton-Lefevre has served as the rector of the University for Peace (UPEACE), the executive director of Leadership for Environment and Development International (LEAD), and the executive director of the International Council for Science (ICSU). She has served on boards, councils, and committees that include the United Nations (UN) Global Compact, the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED), and the UN Secretary General's High-Level Group on Sustainable Energy for All.

Marton-Lefevre has coauthored numerous books and papers. In 1999, she received the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Award for International Scientific Cooperation. In 2008, she was named both Chevalier de l'Ordre National de la Legion d'Honneur by the French government and Global Ambassador for Hungarian Culture by the Hungarian minister of education and culture. In 2011, Marton-Lefevre was named Chevalier dans l'Ordre de Saint-Charles by His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco. She is a fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science and a councilor of the World Future Council. Born in Hungary, Marton-Lefevre studied history, ecology, and environmental planning in the United States and France.

About Esri
Since 1969, Esri has been giving customers around the world the power to think and plan geographically. The market leader in GIS technology, Esri software is used in more than 300,000 organizations worldwide including each of the 200 largest cities in the United States, most national governments, more than two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies, and more than 7,000 colleges and universities. Esri applications, running on more than one million desktops and thousands of web and enterprise servers, provide the backbone for the world's mapping and spatial analysis. Esri is the only vendor that provides complete technical solutions for desktop, mobile, server, and Internet platforms. Visit us at esri.com/news.

Copyright © 2012 Esri. All rights reserved. Esri, the Esri globe logo, GIS by Esri, ArcGIS, esri.com, and @esri.com are trademarks, service marks, or registered marks of Esri in the United States, the European Community, or certain other jurisdictions. Other companies and products or services mentioned herein may be trademarks, service marks, or registered marks of their respective mark owners.

SOURCE Esri