Our Story
Today
Today, the Harrison Institute brings together biodiversity research, scientific capacity building and practical conservation. Everything we do is guided by one simple belief: lasting conservation depends on strong local science.
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We develop people. Through long-term mentoring and collaboration, we help talented young scientists build internationally recognised research careers and become future conservation leaders.
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We discover biodiversity. Our integrative research continues to reveal previously unknown species and improve understanding of the biodiversity of Africa and Asia.
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We understand change. By combining field surveys, citizen science and emerging technologies, we help monitor biodiversity and understand environmental change in regions where information is often limited.
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We work with communities. We collaborate with local communities, governments and conservation organisations so that biodiversity research contributes to practical conservation and lasting local impact.
But how did we get here?
For much of its history, the Harrison Institute was known for exploring biodiversity and building an internationally recognised natural history collection. Field expeditions revealed remarkable new species and helped deepen our understanding of some of the world's richest ecosystems.
Over time, however, our research revealed something equally important. Many of the world's biodiversity hotspots are also places where opportunities for advanced scientific training are limited. Protecting biodiversity therefore depends not only on discovering species, but also on developing the scientific capacity needed to study, understand and conserve them.
That realisation changed the way we worked. Rather than seeing research and capacity building as separate activities, we began bringing them together—combining biodiversity research, long-term mentoring and international collaboration to help scientists become research leaders in their own countries.
Today, that philosophy defines everything we do.