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John Shores holds an undergraduate degree in natural resource planning and a graduate degree in natural resource policy and management. He spent nearly six years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the 1970's, advising management agencies in the developing world on the creation and establishment of national parks. After completing graduate school, he continued to focus on natural resource management in developing countries. He has been on the staff of RARE, the World Wildlife Fund, and The Nature Conservancy, and has worked on projects for USAID, the InterAmerican Development Bank, UNDP, GEF, The World Bank, and a variety of consulting firms.
Joining the Peace Corps staff as a natural resources specialist in 1989, he focused on expanding the Peace Corps' environmental programs in Asia, the Pacific, and Central and Eastern Europe. Fluent in Spanish, he also worked with Volunteers and Staff in Central and South America and the Caribbean. His role was to promote and support environmental education, community-based tourism, and biodiversity conservation in countries across the globe. He has work experience in 40 countries and study/travel experience in another 20.
Today he is an environmental consultant, mentor, author, and enjoying retirement. John's current project and research interests include biodiversity, parks and protected areas, sustainability, non-profit organizations (NGO's), institutional development of these organizations, community-based tourism, conservation trust funds, and the role of information technology (IT) and potentially artificial intelligence (AI) in promoting and supporting conservation and sustainable development.