Dr William Duckworth is a wildlife surveyor and conservation advisor, focusing on birds, mammals and their habitats in Southeast Asia. He has over 35 years of conservation experience, first working in Southeast Asia in 1986 carrying out a bird survey in Malaysia. He has also carried out biodiversity surveys in Madagascar, Ecuador, Ethiopia and Abu Dhabi. Since then, Dr Duckworth has carried out wildlife surveys in countries including Lao PDR, Cambodia and Vietnam. His long-term positions have included working as a Technical Advisor to the Wildlife Conservation Society Myanmar Programme and as the protected area advisor to a UNDP-GEF project. Across the years he has been focusing on wildlife surveys, protected area management planning and awareness programme design and implementation. He has also worked on environmental assessments related to hydropower projects, mining and other landscape-changing proposals in the region. He has been involved with the IUCN SSC Asian Species Action Partnership (ASAP) since 2011 and as the ASAP Species Advisor since 2012.

He brings with him a vast body of knowledge and experience working to direct and realize conservation action on the ground. His focus has been on the Lao PDR and surrounding countries, understanding which birds and large mammal species and habitats are most in need of conservation assistance, why, and how they may best be conserved. He has strong relationships with a number of ASEAN governments, understanding the conservation priorities and needs in their countries, and has a strong network and knowledge of regional conservationists. He has particular interest in generating and collating records of little-researched species that may be of conservation concern to help propose species conservation priorities. His strengths lie in deep knowledge of species conservation issues, specifically the threats facing species and their conservation needs, along with the understanding of the realities and constraints of implementing conservation on the ground.

Dr Duckworth works with a number of donors and organisations, carrying out multiple reviews and assessments of project proposals, and advising donors on species conservation needs in Southeast Asia. He is on the Board of Directors for Asian Arks and is currently a member of 14 IUCN SSC Species Specialist Groups, one of only two Scientific Advisors for the IUCN SSC Otter Specialist Group and acts as the IUCN SSC Red List Authority Coordinator for Small Carnivores. He has a PhD from the University of Cambridge, UK, and has over 150 scientific publications.