Entry #5: Innovating in a Pandemic with Dr. Tim Coles

Dr. Tim Coles is the founder and CEO of Operation Wallacea. Tim
comes from a long career in connecting conservation and business
to create sustainable long-term solutions for the industry. Prior
to founding Opwall, Tim was a fisheries scientist with over 13
years’ experience in the UK water industry and river management.
In 1990, he went on to found the IEMA (the Institute of
Environmental Management and Assessment) and EARA (the
Environmental Auditors Registration Association), both of which
are still in existence and have thousands of members in nearly 90
countries around the world. The IEMA is now a leading
international membership-based organisation dedicated to the
promotion of sustainable development.


Of course, what Tim is best known for in our circles is as the
founder of Opwall, which he started in 1995 with the first
expedition to Indonesia. Tim also went on to found the Wallacea
Trust (https://wallaceatrust.org/) in 1998 to support
conservation projects stemming from Opwall’s yearly research
expeditions. Opwall now operates in 13 countries, bringing over
3000 students into the field every year alongside field
researchers and academics, which has resulted in more than 550
scientific publications. Yet in 2020, for the first time in 25
years, Opwall did not open a single field site. The culprit? The
Covid-19 pandemic. In this special episode, we discuss how Opwall
has been impacted by the ban on international travel, what this
means for our industry and international conservation in general,
and how Opwall has adapted to these unexpected and challenging
circumstances.