Muhammad Ikbal Putera is a doctoral student in parks, tourism, and recreation management at North Carolina State University, focusing on youth engagement and conservation education, management of World Heritage Sites, and visitor management in protected areas.

Ikbal is a park ranger with over a decade of professional experience. He is an advanced forest ecosystems manager at Komodo National Park, Ministry of Forestry, Republic of Indonesia, Rinca Island, East Nusa Tenggara. He is a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA), a volunteer organization that helps develop and apply guidelines for nature conservation.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in forestry from Institut Pertanian Bogor and his master’s in forest resources and conservation, with a minor in tropical conservation development from the University of Florida with a USAID-CIFOR Master’s Degree Fellowship.