Tilen Genov has been involved in cetacean research and conservation for over 20 years, including projects in the Adriatic Sea, eastern and western Mediterranean, Red Sea, North Sea, Arabian Sea, the North and South Atlantic, and the south-east Pacific. After graduating in Biology at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, he enrolled in the Master of Research degree in Marine Mammal Science at the University of St Andrews, United Kingdom, where he graduated with an overall distinction. He received his Ph.D. at the Sea Mammal Research Unit, University of St Andrews, with a project on common bottlenose dolphins in the northern Adriatic Sea.
His work includes estimating population abundance and dynamics, spatial modelling of habitat use, social network analysis, fishery interactions, the effects of pollutants, and novel identification methods. He is particularly interested in using science to assess the status of cetacean populations, identify important habitats and evaluate threats, and in translating that knowledge into effective marine conservation.
He is the founder and president of Morigenos – Slovenian Marine Mammal Society, and a coordinator of the Slovenian Dolphin Project, which received the Ford Environmental & Conservation Award. He received the Sustainable Development Award by the Slovene Human Resources Development and Scholarship Fund, the Alfred Toepfer Natural Heritage Scholarship by the Alfred Toepfer Foundation and the EUROPARC Federation, and an award for expert volunteer work in natural sciences by the Slovenian Philanthropy. In 2018 he received The Mandy McMath Conservation Award for an outstanding contribution to marine mammal conservation and welfare, with particular emphasis on contributions to environmental education and conservation of cetaceans in practice from the European Cetacean Society. In 2022 he received the Prometheus Award for Excellence in Science Communication by the Slovenian Science Foundation.
He is currently a member of the IUCN Cetacean Specialist Group, a Regional Co-Coordinator for the Mediterranean of the IUCN Joint Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force, member of the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), member of the IWC Standing Working Group on Bycatch, member of the IWC Small Cetacean Task Team Steering Committee, member of the ACCOBAMS/ASCOBANS Joint Working Group on Bycatch, member of the Scientific Committee of ACCOBAMS, member of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, a National Contact Person for European Cetacean Society and a teaching assistant at the University of Primorska, Slovenia.
Tilen Genov has been collaborating with OceanCare since 2020 as part of the Morigenos project to study a local dolphin population in Slovenian waters.