Chris Jenkins

Chris Jenkins

Board Member

Chris Jenkins lives in Rabun County, where he has built his life around conserving wildlife and wild places. He is the founding Chief Executive Officer of The Orianne Society and serves on the boards of the Indian Ocean Tortoise Alliance, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, and the BIPOC Outdoor Collective. He has also held leadership roles with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, Partners for Amphibian and Reptile Conservation, and the Gopher Tortoise Council.

Over the course of his career, Chris has protected and restored tens of thousands of acres of public and private lands. Through the Orianne Society, his work in the North Georgia Mountains has centered on conserving rare species—including hellbenders and bog turtles—and restoring critical riparian and bog habitats.

An avid sportsman, Chris enjoys hunting and angling in the rugged North Georgia Mountains and beyond. As a board member of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, he works to protect public land policy, ensuring lands remain accessible to all “Public Land Owners.” With the BIPOC Outdoor Collective, he helps connect inner-city communities to nature through programs and adventures in the Georgia Mountains.

Chris has also worked with the Wildlife Conservation Society, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, University of Massachusetts, University of British Columbia, and National Geographic. He earned a B.S. and M.S. in wildlife biology and conservation from the University of Massachusetts and a Ph.D. in biological sciences from Idaho State University.