The Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center (TraCCC), founded by Dr. Louise Shelley, is the first center in the United States devoted to understanding the links among terrorism, transnational crime, and corruption, and to teaching, researching, training, and helping to formulate policy on these critical issues. TraCCC is a research center within the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University, in Fairfax, Virginia.
TraCCC’s research portfolio spans a wide range of topics with direct relevance to biodiversity conservation, including human smuggling and trafficking, the links between crime and terrorism, money laundering and other financial crimes, the impact of organized crime on legitimate business, and — most relevantly to IUCN’s mission — environmental crime. The center accomplishes its mission through international research partnerships engaging in fundamental and applied research, with results disseminated through conferences, the TraCCC book series (published with Routledge since 2006), other publications, and partner websites. Workshops, public lectures, scholarly exchanges, and joint research partnerships are core TraCCC activities.
TraCCC is a Member of IUCN since December 2020 and is classified by IUCN as a National NGO, with a regional focus on North America. It hosts visiting scholars through Fulbright, IREX, and the Open World Leadership Program, and has been a leading voice in research, testimony, and policy guidance on the trade in illegal wildlife, timber, and fisheries products.
