Dr. Peyton West is the Executive Director of FZS-US and runs the organization from its base in Washington DC. She also serves as Secretary and Treasurer of the Board. She obtained her PhD at the University of Minnesota studying the function of the lion's mane in Tanzania and Kenya. Subsequently she worked with the Bell Museum of Natural History, the television show "Go Diego Go," and the Mammal Department at the Wildlife Conservation Society's Bronx Zoo. Most recently, she was the Senior Project Director at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)’s Dialogue on Science, Ethics and Religion program. She has a BA from Yale University.