PETER HOULIHAN is a global leader working at the intersection of biodiversity, conservation, innovation, and planetary systems change. With a career spanning field biology, scientific exploration, environmental diplomacy, and large-scale innovation strategy, he is recognized for building ambitious, cross-sector initiatives that advance bold solutions for the future of life on Earth.

Trained as a tropical ecologist, Peter specialized in leading extensive scientific expeditions and field programs in some of the most remote, challenging and biodiverse ecosystems on the planet — from the Amazon to the Congo Basin, and Madagascar to Borneo. His fieldwork has ranged from species discovery and canopy ecology to pioneering biodiversity monitoring methods using genomics, drones, AI, and remote sensing.

As an Executive Vice President at XPRIZE, Peter founded and led the organization’s first Biodiversity & Conservation domain, overseeing global programs representing tens of millions of dollars in prize funding. This included leading major initiatives such as XPRIZE Rainforest and XPRIZE Wildfire, while also guiding the development of new prize concepts focused on coral reef regeneration and resilience, deep-sea biodiversity, decoding animal communication, rewilding, and protecting wildlife from illicit trade. Peter was responsible for building and managing multi-year R&D accelerator pipelines that recruited hundreds of teams worldwide to advance breakthrough technologies through competitive, staged development, rigorous field deployments and real-world testing that integrated AI, autonomous robotics, UAVs, satellite intelligence, and Indigenous knowledge to address some of the planet’s most urgent environmental challenges.

Houlihan is experienced in fostering whole-of-government task forces, interagency and international collaborations to solve complex global challenges through interdisciplinary approaches. He has helped bring together diverse sectors of government, UN agencies, Indigenous communities, heads of state, academic institutions, emergency management, aviation authorities, development banks, and NGOs to build coordinated, systems-level solutions across the Americas, Africa, Asia, Australia, the Pacific, the Caribbean, and the Indian Ocean.

Peter’s career has also focused on research, teaching, and global scientific collaboration. As a Visiting Assistant Professor at UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, he worked with the Center for Tropical Research and the Congo Basin Institute; he also served as an Adjunct Professor at Johns Hopkins University, where he led graduate field courses in tropical ecology and conservation. He is a frequent visiting scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama, served as an International Advisor to the Borneo Nature Foundation, and co-founded and directed BRINCC, a conservation NGO in Borneo.

As a multilingual photographer, videographer, and producer, Peter fuses conservation science with high-impact media to inform broad international audiences about our planet. On camera, he has appeared alongside Sir David Attenborough in a BAFTA-nominated series for the BBC, across National Geographic platforms, and in an Emmy-nominated PBS documentary. ‘Chasing Ghosts,’ a short film about his scientific research in the Florida Everglades has received many accolades as an Official Selection of numerous film festivals, including Winner of the Best Science in Nature Short Form + Best Ecosystem Short Form categories at the 2020 Jackson Wild Media Awards, and a Winner of the 2021 United Nations World Wildlife Day Film Showcase. Peter is a National Geographic Explorer and Photographer, an Expert for NatGeo Expeditions, Fellow of the Explorers Club, gear tester for Patagonia, and public speaker.

Guided by a lifelong commitment to the planet, Peter continues to pursue bold, collaborative solutions that rise to the scale of the challenges we face. His mission is to transform how the world innovates for and invests in nature — not only to preserve life on Earth, but to ensure it thrives for generations to come.