Michele Thieme joined the World Wildlife Fund's Conservation Science Program in 1999 and works to conserve freshwater life in WWF's priority river and lake basins. Her current research centers on the role of protected areas in conserving freshwater ecosystems, and improving conservation planning in freshwater environments. She leads the Spatial Tools and Analysis Team and is an active member of the Impact Evaluation team.

Robin Abell is a senior freshwater conservation biologist at WWF. She specializes in broad-scale conservation planning to protect freshwater biodiversity.

Dr. Melanie L.J. Stiassny is Axelrod Research Curator at the Department of Ichthyology, American Museum of Natural History.

Paul Skelton is Managing Director Emeritus of the South African Institue for Aquatic Biodiversity.