James Charles Russell is a New Zealand conservation biologist and professor at the University of Auckland.

Russell gained a PhD on the genetics and invasion ecology of rats from the University of Auckland.

[6] Also aiming to eradicate all invasive mammals, the plan was unveiled by Prime Minister John Key in 2016.

[8] In 2012, Russell was awarded the New Zealand Prime Minister's MacDiarmid Emerging Scientist Prize, worth NZ$200,000, for his work using DNA fingerprinting of rats and statistical modelling to address conservation problems.

[9] In 2014, Russell was awarded a Rutherford Discovery Fellowship, worth NZ$800,000, for research on conservation complexity: scaling vertebrate pest control.