Douglas Stotz is a Conservation Ornithologist with ECP. He is active in programs to preserve biological diversity and threatened habitats, both in the Chicago region and in other countries. Locally, Doug monitors bird populations at several sites where native habitats are being restored and advises local governments on land management practices that promote biodiversity. He also has a long history of research and exploration in South America. Together with the late Theodore A. Parker, John Fitzpatrick, and Debby Moskovits (of ECP), Doug authored Neotropical Birds: Ecology and Conservation, a landmark book that provides valuable information on the distribution and ecological patterns of Latin American birds and uses that information to analyze conservation priorities. Doug also researches the ecological basis for geographic patterns of species diversity and endemism, especially along elevational gradients.

Doug received a B.S. in Biology from the University of Arizona in 1978 and received his Ph.D. in Evolutionary Biology from the University of Chicago in 1990. As part of the tropical Rapid Biological Inventory teams, Doug documents the bird species in a region and determines which have restricted ranges and which indicate habitat quality. This, together with data gathered by other team members on other groups of organisms, provides the basis for making conservation decisions about the area surveyed.