The Kathryn Fuller Science for Nature Fund

Symposium Overview 

Mr. Lester Brown
Earth Policy Institute

Lester R. Brown, described as “one of the world’s most influential thinkers” by the Washington Post, is Founder and President of Earth Policy Institute, a non-profit environmental research organization based in Washington, D.C. During a career that started with tomato farming, Brown has been awarded 25 honorary degrees and has authored or coauthored over 50 books. One of the world's most widely published author, his books have appeared in some 40 languages.  His recent book is entitled World on the Edge: How to Prevent Environmental and Economic Collapse. He is a MacArthur Fellow and the recipient of many prizes and awards. In 1985 the Library of Congress requested his personal papers noting that his writings and work had “already strongly affected thinking about problems of world population and resources.” 

Dr. Michael Bruford 
Cardiff School of Biosciences

Mike Bruford is a molecular ecologist interested in studying the demographic and evolutionary processes and conservation of small and fragmented populations. Mike carried out his doctoral studies at Leicester University during the 1980’s, where he worked on developing DNA profiling in non-model species. He subsequently carried out postdoctoral work at the Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London applying these methods to endangered species and has continued to develop these approaches since becoming a faculty member at the School of Biosciences, Cardiff University in 1999. Mike currently directs the Organisms and Environment Division of the School of Biosciences.

His work focuses on understanding the determinants of genetic diversity and structure in endangered species and especially those where direct study (using standard ecological methodology) is not possible. His projects are oriented towards both an understanding of the basic processes governing the evolution of endangered species and, most importantly, the provision of data and management recommendations for direct use in policy and action. His work is carried out in Asia, including China and Sabah, central Africa (Gabon and DRC) and South America (especially in Peru). Mike studies a wide variety of predominantly vertebrate species from great apes to rainforest birds and is increasingly using genomic approaches to understand and conserve functional genetic diversity in threatened populations. Mike has a strong influence in the science/policy interface and currently coordinates a European Union project to develop tools for providing policy makers and biodiversity managers with relevant genetic information to assist their conservation programs. 

Dr. William C. Clark 
Harvard University

William C. Clark is the Harvey Brooks Professor of International Science, Public Policy and Human Development at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. Trained as an ecologist, his research focuses on the interactions of environment, development and security concerns in international affairs, with a special emphasis on the role of science and technology in shaping those interactions. Clark is co-author of Adaptive Environmental Assessment and Management (Wiley, 1978) and Redesigning Rural Development (Hopkins, 1982); editor of the Carbon Dioxide Review (Oxford, 1982); and coeditor of Sustainable Development of the Biosphere (Cambridge, 1986), The Earth as Transformed by Human Action (Cambridge, 1990), Learning To Manage Global Environmental Risks (MIT, 2001), and Global Environmental Assessments: Information and Influence (MIT, 2006). He serves on the editorial boards of the Proceedings of the US National Academy of Sciences, and Annual Review of Environment and Natural Resources.  Clark is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, where he serves on the Roundtable on Science and Technology for Sustainability and co-chaired the study “Our Common Journey: A Transition Toward Sustainability" (National Research Council, 1999).  At Harvard, he co-directs the Sustainability Science Program at the university's Center for International Development. Clark is a recipient of the MacArthur Prize, the Humboldt Prize, and the Kennedy School's Carballo Award for excellence in teaching.

Dr. Geoffrey D. Dabelko 
Woodrow Wilson Center

Geoffrey D. Dabelko is director of the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security Program, a nonpartisan research-policy forum on environment, population, health, and security issues. He also teaches as an adjunct professor at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. For the past 20 years, he has brought together policymakers, practitioners, journalists, and scholars grappling with complex links among environment, population, development, conflict, and security. His current research focuses on climate change, natural resources, and security as well as environmental pathways to confidence-building and peacemaking, with a special emphasis on managing water resources.

Dr. Dabelko has held prior positions with the Council on Foreign Relations, Foreign Policy and Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. He currently leads two Wilson Center efforts supported by USAID: the Health, Environment, Livelihoods, Population, and Security (HELPS) Project and the Resources for Peace Project.

Dr. Dabelko is co-editor with Ken Conca of Environmental Peacemaking (2002) and Green Planet Blues: Four Decades of Global Environmental Politics (4^th edition 2010). He is an IPCC lead author for the 5^th assessment (Working Group II, Chapter 12), member of the UN Environment Programme’s Expert Advisory Group on Environment, Conflict, and Peacebuilding, contributing editor to Environment, and member of the editorial board of Global Environmental Change.   

Mr. John Fahey, Jr.
National Geographic Society

John Fahey was appointed chairman and chief executive officer of the National Geographic Society in January 2011. He is also chairman of the executive committee of its board of trustees. He served as president and chief executive officer of the Society from March 1998 to December 2010.  

During his tenure, Fahey has led an evolution of the National Geographic Society, including its entry into cable television with National Geographic Channels; the international growth of National Geographic magazine; and the extension of National Geographic content into virtually every aspect of digital media.

In addition to continuing the Society’s efforts to improve geographic literacy, Fahey has guided the significant expansion of the Society’s Mission Programs during the past decade, including the creation of the National Geographic Explorers-in-Residence, Fellows and Emerging Explorers programs; the Genographic Project that is charting, through DNA analysis, the migratory history of humans; and the arts media initiative featuring programs such as the All Roads Film Project to cultivate and showcase work by indigenous and minority-culture storytellers and National Geographic Photo Camps for young people.

From 1989 until joining National Geographic, Fahey was chairman, president and CEO of Time Life Inc. He also was a circulation manager for Time magazine. Fahey received his bachelor’s degree in engineering from Manhattan College and his master’s in business administration from the University of Michigan. In 2008, he received the David D. Alger Alumni Achievement Award from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. Fahey serves on the board and the executive committee of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. He also is on the board of directors of Johnson Outdoors Inc. and Exclusive Resorts and represents National Geographic on the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO. Fahey has been selected as one of Advertising Age’s top 100 marketers. 

Dr. Penelope Firth
National Science Foundation

Dr. Penelope Firth is the Acting Division Director of the Environmental Biology Division at the National Science Foundation. Her background is in stream ecosystem ecology and she pursues scholarly interests in biodiversity, climate change, ecosystem services, coupled natural and human systems, and transformative novelty. Dr. Firth leads the NSF Dimensions of Biodiversity team that developed the vision and strategic plan for a 10-year campaign to characterize the integrated taxonomic, genetic and functional dimensions of biodiversity on Earth.

Dr. Firth received her Ph.D. from Virginia Tech in 1983. She worked for several years in the private sector and moved to Washington to support NASA’s program on bioregenerative life support systems for the Mars mission. In 1991 Penny moved to NSF, where she served in a variety of roles coordinating interagency environmental research activities, helping to develop a Federal environmental technology strategy, and serving as architect of the NSF/EPA Partnership for Environmental Research. She started and managed the NSF/EPA/USDA Water and Watersheds competition for NSF before being tapped to serve as the executive secretary of the National Science Board (NSB) Task Force on the Environment, chaired by current NOAA Administrator Dr. Jane Lubchenco. Dr. Firth played a significant role in the development of the NSB report Environmental Science and Engineering for the 21st Century, The Role of the National Science Foundation.

Dr. Firth directed NSF’s Ecosystem Studies Program from 1997-2001, and led the creation of NSF’s Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems program. During 2001-2002 she was detailed to the American Association for the Advancement of Science where she developed several sets of web-based lessons that integrate human history with natural history. Upon her return to NSF, Dr. Firth was promoted to Deputy Director of the Division of Environmental Biology. During 2006-2007 and 2009, she served as Acting Director of the Division. During 2007-2009 she led an effort to revolutionize undergraduate biology education with a vision of broad career horizons, experiential learning, and concept literacy. A major conference on this topic was held in July 2009 and the resulting report, Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education: A Call to Action, was released in 2010.

Dr. Jonathan Foley 
University of Minnesota

Jonathan Foley is the director of the Institute on the Environment (IonE) at the University of Minnesota, where he is a professor and McKnight Presidential Chair in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior. He also leads the IonE’s Global Landscapes Initiative.

Foley’s work focuses on complex global environmental systems and their interactions with human societies. He and his students have contributed to our understanding of global-scale ecological processes, global patterns of land use, the behavior of the planet’s climate and water cycles, and the sustainability of our biosphere. This work has led him to be a regular advisor to large corporations, NGOs and governments around the world.

Foley joined the University of Minnesota in 2008, after spending 15 years on the faculty of the University of Wisconsin, where he founded the Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment. He and his colleagues have published over 100 articles in the scientific literature, including highly cited work in Science, Nature and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. He has also written many popular articles and essays, including pieces in the New York Times, Scientific American, SEED, E360, the Guardian, and elsewhere.

Foley has won numerous awards and honors, including the National Science Foundation’s Faculty Early Career Development Award; the J.S. McDonnell Foundation’s 21st Century Science Award; an Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellowship; and the Sustainability Science Award from the Ecological Society of America. In 1997, President Bill Clinton awarded him the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.

Ms. Kathryn S. Fuller
National Museum of Natural History

Kathryn S. Fuller is currently the chair of the National Museum of Natural History and a managing partner in Doyle Property Partners. Previously, Ms. Fuller was president and chief executive of World Wildlife Fund from 1989 to 2005. Prior to that, she was executive vice president, general counsel and director of WWF’s programs in public policy and wildlife trade monitoring. Before joining WWF, she worked at the U.S. Department of Justice, first in the Office of Legal Counsel, then as a trial attorney in the Land and Natural Resources Division, where she helped create the Wildlife and Marine Resources Section. She became chief of the section in 1981 and in 1992 was a special adviser to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro. Ms. Fuller received her BA in English and American literature from Brown University. She earned a law degree with honors from the University of Texas and pursued graduate studies in marine, estuarine and environmental science at the University of Maryland. Ms. Fuller serves on a number of boards, including Alcoa, the Summit Foundation, Resources for the Future, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Greater Himalayas Foundation.

Ms. Cynthia Gill
USAID

Cynthia Gill joined USAID in 1993, and has in-country experience on biodiversity and forestry issues in more than 15 developing countries. As Biodiversity and Forestry Team Leader, Cynthia leads a team of fourteen forestry and conservation professionals and oversees the management of a twelve million dollar a year portfolio of forestry and conservation programs implemented through non-governmental organizations, other U.S. government Agencies, and consulting firms. She has led the design and procurement of a wide range of conservation programs, including the $77 million Global Conservation Program and SCAPES, and has worked with many USAID missions in the design of their programs. She has also served as the USAID program manager for more than 20 biodiversity conservation programs. Cynthia also tracks and serves as Agency liaison for the USAID biodiversity budget, and leads an Agency-wide Biodiversity Working Group. More recently, Cynthia has had a central role in the Agency’s sustainable landscapes programming.

Cynthia holds a Master of Environmental Management in Conservation Biology from Duke University, and a B.S. in Geography from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her areas of expertise include tropical ecology, integrated conservation and development, and protected area management. Prior to joining USAID she designed and implemented research projects in Venezuela and Costa Rica. Cynthia speaks Spanish and French.

Dr. Rachel Graham
Wildlife Conservation Society

Rachel Graham is a conservation biologist with the Wildlife Conservation Society and has over 20 years of experience in environmental and development in Latin America and Africa. She has dedicated the past 14 years to the research and conservation of apex marine predators. Recent projects focus on the biology and spatial ecology of threatened species of fish and the integration of results with identification of anthropogenic threats into management strategies – that include MPA networks and trans-frontier conservation of migratory marine species. Rachel believes in an inclusive grassroots approach to science, outreach and resource management and shares her time working on the research and conservation of sharks at local, national and international levels in several countries that most recently include Belize, Madagascar, Honduras, Mexico and Pohnpei, Micronesia.

Dr. Susanna Hecht
University of California, Los Angeles

Dr. Susanna Hecht is a specialist in land use change in the Latin American tropics, especially Amazonia. She has explored the drivers of tropical deforestation, including the politics of land speculation in the livestock sector and the rise and politics of agroindustrial soy systems. Her work, however has also focused on alternatives to deforestation and on the “Social Lives of Forests.” She has done extensive research on the agroecology of indigenous production systems and, with anthropologist Darrell Posey, documented how the highly fertile human made “Amazonian Black soils” were formed. She has worked extensively in small farmer systems to understand shifting cultivation, small scale production and agroforestry systems and forest management for non timber products both as ecological, institutional and political as well as biotic terrains. She has worked with extractive communities associated with rubber, babassu palm, and with Quilombos, or runaway slave communities. A great deal of her recent research and practice focuses on the “Forest Transition,” or forest recovery in the tropics, which is now a widely documented phenomenon.

Dr Hecht is Professor in UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs in Regional and International Development and Environmental Analysis and Policy. She holds additional appointments in UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and in the Department of Geography.

Mr. Michael Jenkins
Forest Trends

Michael Jenkins is founding President of Forest Trends, a Washington D.C.-based non-profit organization created in 1999 by leaders from conservation organizations, community leaders, forest product companies, research groups, multilateral development banks and private investment funds. Forest Trends' mission is to maintain, restore, and enhance forests and connected natural ecosystems, which provide life-sustaining processes, by promoting incentives stemming from a broad range of ecosystem services and products. Specifically, Forest Trends seeks to catalyze the development of integrated carbon, water, and biodiversity incentives that deliver real conservation outcomes and benefits to local communities and other stewards of our natural resources.

In 1998, Michael held a joint appointment as a Senior Forestry Advisor to the World Bank. Prior to joining the World Bank he was Associate Director for the Global Security and Sustainability Program of the MacArthur Foundation. Michael has worked as an agroforester in Haiti with the USAID Agroforestry Outreach Program and as the technical advisor with a Washington based development organization, Appropriate Technology International. Michael also was a Peace Corps volunteer in Paraguay working in agriculture, apiculture and forestry projects and worked in Forestry projects in Brazil and the Dominican Republic. He has travelled and worked throughout Latin America, Asia and parts of Africa, and speaks Spanish, French, Portuguese, Creole and Guaraní.

Michael holds a Master's of Forest Science from Yale University, and has authored a number of books/publications including, The Business of Sustainable Forestry: Strategies for an Industry in Transition and Capital Markets and Sustainable Forestry: Opportunities for Investment. In 2010, he received the SKOLL Award for social entrepreneurship on behalf of Forest Trends at the Skoll World Forum in Oxford, England.

Mr. Brett Jenks
Rare

Brett Jenks is President and CEO of Rare, a US-based conservation group. Jenks oversees Rare’s global effort to equip people in the world’s most biologically diverse areas with the tools and motivation they need to protect their natural resources. Jenks leads Rare’s organizational development, from strategic planning to program development and fundraising. Under his leadership, Rare has grown over 1,000 percent; expanded to five continents and reached six million people; and formed worldwide partnerships with the leading environmental NGOs. Rare has won four Social Capitalist Awards from Fast Company magazine, which honors organizations that combine savvy business models with solutions to pressing social needs. Brett has worked in the field of tropical conservation and rural education since 1992. He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Massachusetts and holds an M.B.A. with honors from Georgetown University.

Mr. Michael T. Jones
Google

Michael Jones is Google's Chief Technology Advocate, charged with advancing the technology to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful. Michael travels the globe to meet and speak with governments, businesses, partners and customers in order to advance Google's mission and technology. He previously was Chief Technologist of Google Maps, Earth, and Local Search-the teams responsible for providing location intelligence and information in global context to users worldwide. Before its acquisition by Google, Michael was CTO of Keyhole Corporation, the company that developed the technology used today in Google Earth. He was also CEO of Intrinsic Graphics, and earlier, was Director of Advanced Graphics at Silicon Graphics. A prolific inventor and computer programmer since the 4th grade, he has developed scientific and interactive computer graphics software, held engineering and business executive roles, and is an avid reader, traveler and amateur photographer using a home-built 4 gigapixel camera made with parts from the U2/SR71.

Dr. Tom Lovejoy
Heinz Center for Science, Economics, and the Environment

Thomas Lovejoy is an innovative and accomplished conservation biologist who coined the term “biological diversity”.  He currently holds the Biodiversity Chair at the Heinz Center for Science, Economics, and the Environment based in Washington, DC.  He served as President of the Heinz Center from 2002-2008.  Before assuming this position, Lovejoy was the World Bank’s Chief Biodiversity Advisor and Lead Specialist for Environment for Latin America and the Caribbean as well as Senior Advisor to the President of the United Nations Foundation.  In 2010 he was elected Professor in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy at George Mason University (initially he will devote 50% of his time to the Heinz Center).  Spanning the political spectrum, Lovejoy has served on science and environmental councils under the Reagan, Bush, and Clinton administrations.  At the core of these many influential positions are Lovejoy’s seminal ideas, which have formed and strengthened the field of conservation biology.  In the 1980s, he brought international attention to the world’s tropical rainforests, and in particular, the Brazilian Amazon, where he has worked since 1965.  Lovejoy also developed the now ubiquitous “debt-for-nature” swap programs and led the Minimum Critical Size of Ecosystems project.  He also founded the series Nature, the popular long-term series on public television.  In 2001, Lovejoy was awarded the prestigious Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement.  In 2009 he was the winner of BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Ecology and Conservation Biology Category. In 2009 he was appointed Conservation Fellow by the National Geographic. Lovejoy holds B.S. and Ph.D (biology) degrees from Yale University.

Ms. Margo McKnight
Wildlands Network

Margo McKnight graduated from the University of South Florida where she studied zoology and fine arts. She has 24 years of experience working with several institutions within the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) membership. The variety of roles she filled over the years including; animal keeper, educator, exhibits designer, media spokesperson, conservationist and executive director, sparked her interest in communications. The interface between the diverse cross section of the American public that visits these parks and conservation aspect of these organizations became her focus.

She left the AZA world in 2004 to become the Executive Director of the Wildlands Network. The Wildlands Network, using the best science possible, works to create Wildways in North America. These Wildways are permeable landscapes between protected areas and most commonly are mosaics of public and private lands. The changing climate is adding urgency to create these safe passages especially for keystone species. The success of Wildlands Network depends upon a network of people actively creating a network of protected wild lands. Creating this network depends upon communicating complex biological concepts to the diverse audience and is one of the primary goals of the organization.

Dr. Randy Olson
Prairie Starfish Productions

Randy Olson, author of Don’t Be Such A Scientist: Talking Substance in an Age of Style, earned his Ph.D. at Harvard University and became a professor of marine biology before moving to Hollywood for his second career as a filmmaker. Since obtaining an M.F.A. from the University of Southern California School of Cinema, he has written and directed the critically acclaimed films Flock of Dodos: The Evolution-Intelligent Design Circus (Tribeca, ‘06, Showtime) and Sizzle: A Global Warming Comedy (Outfest, ’08), and co-founded The Shifting Baselines Ocean Media Project, a partnership between scientists and Hollywood to communicate the crisis facing our oceans for which WWF was a co-sponsor.

Dr. Jeff Opperman
The Nature Conservancy

Jeff Opperman, senior freshwater scientist, has been working to protect rivers and lakes for nearly 15 years.  He has provided strategic and scientific guidance to freshwater conservation projects across the United States as well as in China, Africa and Latin America. In his role at The Nature Conservancy much of Jeff’s focus is on improving the environmental sustainability of hydropower both by advancing sound policies and by supporting on-the-ground projects. He is a member of the governing board of the Low Impact Hydropower Institute (LIHI), which certifies “environmentally preferable” hydropower and recently served on an Independent Review Panel that provided recommendations for floodplain management to California’s Department of Water Resources.   

Jeff earned his B.S. in Biology from Duke University and a Ph.D. in Ecosystem Science from the University of California, Berkeley. He then studied floodplain ecology during a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of California, Davis. His scientific and policy research has been published in journals such as Science, BioScience and Ecological Applications. Jeff strives to communicate the challenges and opportunities of protecting fresh water through blogs on Grist.org and “Cool Green Science” on nature.org. 

Mr. Martin Palmer
Alliance of Religions and Conservation

Martin Palmer is Secretary General of the Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC), a secular, non-governmental body founded in 1995 by HRH Prince Philip. ARC helps the major religions of the world to develop environmental programmes based on their own core teachings, beliefs and practices.

Martin Palmer has worked in the field of religions and the environment for more than 30 years. In 1986, as religious advisor to WWF International, he brought together five major faiths – Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism – to a unique event in Assisi, Italy, (birthplace of St Francis, patron saint of animals and the environment) as part of WWF International’s 25^th anniversary celebrations. The event resulted in the first statements on the environment by each of the five faiths. In 1993, the United Nations estimated this event had been directly responsible for the launch of more than 150,000 religious environmental projects worldwide.

In 1997 he founded the Sacred Land Project, preserving sacred sites from Mongolia to Mexico. As a result of that project, in 2006 ARC and WWF International published a ground-breaking document, Beyond Belief, which explored the role that faith can play in the protection of sacred forests, mountains, rivers, lakes, seas and deserts. The document examined 100 sacred places that are also places of vital biodiversity.

Martin Palmer studied theology and religious studies at Cambridge University. He has written a number of books on faith and the environment, including Faith in Conservation, The Atlas of Religion and Christianity and Ecology. Martin Palmer is a regular radio and television commentator, invited to speak on religious, ethical and historical issues in particular on BBC Radio 4, BBC World Service and BBC TV.

Dr. Subhrendu Pattanayak
Duke University

Subhrendu K. Pattanayak is an Associate Professor of Public Policy, Environment & Economics at Duke University. His research has focused on evaluation of ecosystem services (primarily from forests), and economics of environmental health. He builds models to analyze the causes and consequences of human behaviors and uses estimated parameters in integrated simulation tools to help design policy interventions to influence individuals and institutions. Professor Pattanayak has focused on socially marginal populations and examined programs and policies motivated by inequities and efficiency concerns. 

Dr. George Powell
World Wildlife Fund - US

George Powell has served as the liaison between CSP and WWF's field offices and partners in Latin America and Madagascar, helping to apply the principles of conservation biology to real-world settings. In this position, he has taken the leadership role in developing conservation landscapes and action plans for WWF priority sites worldwide and has trained WWF collaborators in fundamentals of conservation biology. Prior to WWF, he worked as Director of Conservation Biology at the RARE Center for Tropical Conservation and as a private consultant working to facilitate biological data analysis and mapping for conservationists in the field who often lack such opportunities. Powell is a co founder of the Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve in Costa Rica, a site that has remained dear to his heart since the early 1970's. He received his Ph.D. from University of California, where he researched behavior of mixed species flocks among the avian communities of the lower montane forest of Costa Rica.

Dr. Sassan Saatchi
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Sassan Saatchi is a Senior Scientist at JPL/CALTECH and an adjunct professor at the UCLA Institute of Environment.   With a PhD in Electrophysics, he has been involved in several national and international research projects to develop and improve satellite observations for a variety of environmental applications. He has been a principal investigator in several interdisciplinary projects to study the role of human and climate in understanding the environment at local to regional scales. His present research includes the global carbon cycle, in particular the forest biomass/carbon dynamics, land use and land cover change. He has developed techniques to integrate space observations in modeling and monitoring species range distribution and diversity using satellite.  He is currently directing several research projects studying the tropical forests and climate in the Amazon and Congo Basin and is leading studies at UCLA to understand the role of urban landscapes and carbon emissions on regional climate in Southern California.

Dr. Anne Salomon
Simon Fraser University

Anne Salomon seeks to advance our understanding of how human disturbances alter the productivity, biodiversity and resilience of coastal marine ecosystems to inform ecosystem approaches to marine conservation. Broadly, Anne is interested in the cascading effects of predator depletion on marine food webs, marine reserve design and evaluation, climate change impacts on coastal ocean ecosystems, alternative state dynamics, and the resilience of social-ecological systems. Ultimately, Anne strives to engage coastal communities and government agencies in collaborative research and encourage constructive dialogue among stakeholders to navigate the tradeoffs between coastal conservation and resource use.

Ms. Patricia Skyer
World Wildlife Fund - Namibia

Patricia Skyer is Team Leader for the COPASSA (Conservation Partnerships for Sustainability in Southern Africa) Project at WWF in Namibia, since 2009. The main purpose of COPASSA is to facilitate the documentation and sharing of best practices in CBNRM (Community Based Natural Resources Management) implementation through strengthened partnerships among conservation networks in nine countries (Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe) in Southern Africa. Her experience includes project management; networking and coordination of partnerships among a broad range of stakeholders supporting CBNRM; and CBNRM training and facilitation. Prior to re-joining WWF, she managed the CBNRM Programme at USAID Namibia; worked as National Coordinator for the Namibia Association of CBNRM Support Organisations (NACSO); and CBNRM trainer / community facilitator at Rössing Foundation (Namibian NGO) and the WWF LIFE (Living In a Finite Environment) Project.

In 2002, she received the World Wildlife Fund Women and Conservation Award and the Condé Nast Traveler Magazine Environmental Award for her achievements in mobilizing a robust network of support agencies, called NACSO (Namibian Association of CBNRM Support Organizations) for the enhancement of CBNRM in Namibia.

She holds a Masters Degree in Environmental Management and Development from the Australian National University, and a Bachelor of Science Degree (majors Botany and Zoology) from the University of Namibia.

Dr. Rob Wilby
Loughborough University

Rob Wilby is Professor of Hydroclimatology in the Department of Geography at the University of Loughborough, UK. He has over 20 years of research experience in regional climate modelling, climate risk assessment, and adaptation options appraisal for freshwater environments. Recent projects have included evaluation of best practices (worldwide) for flood risk management, and development of smarter methods of water licensing – both under climate change. He is increasingly working in water scarce countries such as Australia, Djibouti, Morocco, Tajikistan, United States and Yemen. He provides technical assistance to a range of clients in government, international donor organisations, NGOs, research councils, and utilities. Overall, he finds in-country collaboration and scientific support the most fulfilling aspects of his work.