“What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.

- Jane Goodall -

Strategic Land Planning & Prioritization

Deciding where to focus limited resources aimed at conserving biodiversity remains a challenge for conservationists and environmental policymakers. A science-guided approach can be critical for achieving, measuring, communicating, and informing biodiversity conservation success, especially as government agencies are tasked with prioritizing places, allocating resources, implementing actions, and tracking conservation progress. I have worked with local municipalities, NGOs, and federal agencies in helping them identify and strategically apply science for their purpose.

Decision Support Tools

Conservation can and should take advantage of emerging technologies and new approaches to address today's growing challenges. I partner with others to create free, public web applications that allow non-experts to leverage complex methods like remote sensing and AI. Current tools allow users to detect ongoing habitat loss, predict future losses, or catalog historic loss within their own areas of interest. These tools help conservationists be more proactive in decision-making.

Policy Analysis & Advocacy

Environmental laws like the Endangered Species Act have worked for decades to keep species from falling off the brink of extinction. They have helped recover iconic species like the bald eagle, the peregrine falcon, and the American alligator. Despite great successes, however, major obstacles like lack of funding or poor implementation prevent these laws from fulfilling their promise to Americans. I analyze data to pinpoint successes, downfalls, and provide vision for future policies and programs.

Partnerships

One of the greatest lessons that conservation has taught us is that we are more successful when we work together. I have been grateful for the opportunity to convene and collaborate with a wide array of partners from academia, government, NGOs, and Tribes. I have also grown a board of science advisors for an organization and overseen volunteer groups for various field conservation efforts.