Caleb Ofori Boateng

Caleb is one of Ghana’s very few formally trained amphibian and reptile expert (herpetologists). With a PhD from The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology looking at diversity patterns and impacts of human activities on amphibians. Over the years, he has proven himself as a leader in herpetological research and conservation in West Africa. Caleb is the founder of the NGO Herp Conservation Ghana (Herp-Ghana); West Africa’s first conservation organization dedicated to the protection of amphibians and reptiles and a Research Scientist with the Forestry Research Institute of Ghana. Caleb was been a recipient of several international awards and fellowships (ZSL EDGE Fellowship, Future Conservationist Award etc.) that has allowed him to significantly advance the science of amphibian research and conservation in Ghana including the discovery and description of new amphibian species to science. In 2007, Caleb was part of a team that rediscovered a critically endangered frog species (Conraua derooi) in Ghana after several years in which it was assumed extinct. With the support of the local communities on whose land this frog occurs, Caleb and his team has legally established an 847-acre community based protected area in the Ho West District of Ghana and together with the landowners planted over 20,000 trees to protect and restore respectively the habitat of this endangered species. Caleb was awarded the Future for Nature Award in 2014 and a Whitley Award -aka the ‘green oscars’, in 2019 in recognition for his conservation efforts.