On this episode, we’re joined by Carney Anne Nasser, an alumna of the Community Advocacy program at GSPM and a big cat expert and leading animal protection attorney who pitched the wildlife trafficking case against the now-infamous “Tiger King” Joe Exotic that led to his conviction for multiple federal crimes and a 22-year prison sentence. Professor Nasser has a long and storied career in the animal law space, with most of her seventeen years of legal practice focused on combatting the exotic pet trade and wildlife trafficking, with a significant focus on the protection and conservation of tigers and other big cats. As part of that mission, she has worked with some of the leading organizations in wildlife protection — including serving as a senior attorney for wildlife and regulatory affairs at the Animal Legal Defense Fund and as Associate Director for Captive Animal Law Enforcement at PETA. In 2017, Professor Nasser became the founding director of the animal welfare clinic at Michigan State University’s College of Law, which also made her only the second full-time animal law professor in the world. Today, she is a Research Fellow in the Animal Law and Policy Program at Harvard Law School, alongside her work as an in-demand consultant to candidates, elected officials, government agencies, corporations, and organizations that seek her expert guidance on animal welfare policy, strategy and communications. Oh, and as if all that wasn’t enough, she also recently served as the executive producer of a critically acclaimed documentary film, The Conservation Game, which follows the story of a retired cop who makes a bombshell discovery while undercover at an exotic animal auction and begins an investigation into whether America’s top television celebrity conservationists may be secretly connected to the exotic pet trade.
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