Brian Miller received his Ph.D. from the University of Wyoming in 1988, where his work focused on the behavioral ecology and conservation of the endangered black-footed ferret. He was part of the team that helped capture the last wild individuals for a groundbreaking captive breeding program. In 1989, he was awarded a Smithsonian Institution Fellowship at the Conservation and Research Center of the National Zoological Park, where he helped develop pre-release training techniques for captive-raised ferrets—methods still in use today.

From 1992 to 1997, Dr. Miller lived and worked in Mexico as a postdoctoral researcher and professor at the National University of Mexico. There, he contributed to the creation of a protected area in the high plains of Chihuahua—now a Biosphere Reserve that has successfully reintroduced black-footed ferrets. He also launched a long-term study on jaguars and pumas in Jalisco, Mexico, examining how their movements respond to habitat protection in the Chamela-Cuixmala Biosphere Reserve.

In 1997, he co-founded the Conservation Department at the Denver Zoological Foundation, where he studied the trophic effects of wolf reintroduction in Grand Teton National Park. His research has centered on the role of highly interactive species in regulating ecosystem processes and improving reserve design to better protect them.

In 2005, Dr. Miller became Executive Director and founding scientist of the Wind River Ranch Foundation, where he led conservation and education efforts on a private ranch that later became the Rio Mora National Wildlife Refuge in 2012. He has co-authored or edited six books and published over 110 scientific articles. He has served on the boards of five NGOs and as a scientific advisor to several others. His contributions have been recognized with Outstanding Service Awards from both the Colorado Division of Fish and Wildlife and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, as well as the Denver Zoological Foundation’s Conservationist of the Year Award in 2009.