ECOADAPT - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Project Coordinator
- Project Coordinator With
As a Project Coordinator with EcoAdapt, Carey manages the National Adaptation Forum and other Knowledge Exchange programming. She brings expertise in stakeholder engagement, climate change communication, and the natural sciences. Prior to joining EcoAdapt, Carey completed a year-long Science Policy Fellowship with the National Academies Gulf Research Program where she worked with PLACE: SLR, a partnership that aims to increase resilience to sea-level rise throughout the northern Gulf of Mexico. Carey earned her M.S. in Marine Science from the University of South Florida College of Marine Science where she researched carbon storage in mangrove ecosystems and her B.S. in Environmental Science from Tulane University. After spending eight years in the Gulf, Carey recently moved to Seattle and is excited to live amongst the mountains for the first time in her life!
Cathy over 20 years of experience in the management, legal, and finance aspects of organizational operations, including a number of years with a Big 5 accounting firm in the business consulting practice specializing in strategic planning, organizational reviews, process improvements, and workflow analysis in corporate legal departments and large law firms. She also has operations experience with a small boutique legal consulting firm where she served as office manager for several years. Most recently, she served three years as the general manager and bookkeeper of a 400+ member non-profit athletic facility managing 35 staff members. Cathy is very involved in her community and currently, serves on the Board of Directors as Treasurer for her church's preschool. Cathy earned her Bachelors of Science in Political Science and Business Administration from University of Wisconsin - River Falls and a paralegal degree from Chippewa Valley Technical School. Cathy grew up in Wisconsin, has spent time in Chicago, enjoyed Hawaii for 12 years, and for the past 11 years has called the Pacific Northwest home. She enjoys spending time outdoors with her husband and three children, photography, scrapbooking, and animals, which currently includes two dogs and two cats. An avid reader, she can often be found with a book in her hand when not cheering for her favorite sports teams (Go Pack Go!).
Daniella is a passionate advocate for environmentalism and climate action, firmly committed to nurturing environmental responsibility and empowering communities with opportunities for environmental education. Her commitment to both the natural environment and the well-being of its inhabitants has driven her to become a CivicSpark Fellow with EcoAdapt for the 2023-24 term. In this capacity, she actively contributes to advancing the field of climate adaptation through research, outreach, and capacity-building initiatives. Graduating in the fall of 2022 from the University of British Columbia, Daniella earned a Bachelor of Arts in geography with a specialization in environment and sustainability. In 2022, Daniella also completed an exchange term at the University of Cambridge, studying economics. Since obtaining her degree, Daniella has used her passion for environmental and climate issues to design and execute the independent case study Dominica Climate Resilience. In this project, she integrated her interests in photography, economics, climate resilience, and community-based development to investigate Dominica's strides towards becoming a climate-resilient nation. This endeavor showcased her multifaceted expertise and dedication to exploring sustainable policy-making decisions. Beyond her professional pursuits, Daniella enjoys spending quality time with her family and creating art pieces. After several years in Denver and Vancouver, she is ready to explore her new home in Washington State.
Deb is thrilled to be supporting EcoAdapt's programs, including the National Science Foundation project evaluating adaptation workshop effectiveness for multiple jurisdictions across the US. Prior to and parallel with her work with EcoAdapt, Deb chairs the Bainbridge Island Watershed Council, where she ran an annual salmon monitoring program for 18 years and conducts outreach, education and citizen science projects to protect Island watersheds. Deb also served for six years on the City of Bainbridge Island's Climate Change Advisory Committee. Prior to joining EcoAdapt, Deb coordinated the K-5 Science program for the Bainbridge Island School District, spent eight years as an ecological risk assessor for highly contaminated sites across the country, and has worked across a wide variety of ecosystems as a natural resource manager and ecological researcher for county, state, and federal agencies and organizations. Deb has her undergraduate degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Brown University and her Ph.D. in Environmental Science from the University of California at Berkeley. She balances her work in science with voracious reading across a wide variety of topics, as well as gardening, knitting, birdwatching, cycling, watching hockey (go Kraken!) and loves to cook, jam and brew everything.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Is Director of Reef Ecologic
Dr Paul Marshall is Director of Reef Ecologic and Adjunct Associate Professor with the Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science at University of Queensland. He was the founder and Director of the Climate Change Program at the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and Program Leader for the Australia-Caribbean Coral Reef Collaboration (funded by AusAID). Paul is passionate about the ocean and has spent many years studying and working to protect coral reefs. He is a leading expert in applied conservation science, and has been a key player in Australian and international efforts to integrate climate change into coral reef conservation and management for over a decade. Working at the boundary between science and management, his research focuses on integration of social and ecological information for improved decision-making, operationalizing resilience for coral reef management, adaptive policy and application of systems thinking for improved conservation outcomes. He worked with Australia's Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority for 14 years, and has ongoing collaborations with governments, major NGOs and international organizations to advise on climate change adaptation and strategic conservation. He has over 45 peer-reviewed publications on applied reef ecology and conservation practice, including the milestone references The Great Barrier Reef and Climate Change: A Vulnerability Assessment and A Reef Manager's Guide to Coral Bleaching. His research has attracted over 3500 citations and he has sourced over $11 million in funding for work at the science-policy interface. Paul gained his PhD from James Cook University in 2000, and remains closely involved in applied research (ecological and social) as well as management and policy for reef conservation. He has over 2000 dives on coral reefs around the world, and still loves to get in the water.
Job Titles:
- Directing Scientist and Director of Operations
Eric, Directing Scientist and Director of Operations, is an EcoAdapt co-founder and specializes in assessing anthropogenic stresses and the risks they pose in natural and built environments. He is particularly interested in bridging gaps between research, decision-making processes and action - all with strong stakeholder involvement. Eric now also wears the operations director hat at EcoAdapt and helps with 'the work that needs to get done to get the work done.' However, he is occasionally let out of the office and plays a key role in climate change vulnerability assessment and adaptation strategy development processes, stakeholder workshop facilitation, and doing other helpful things. Recent endeavors include the North American Marine Protected Area Rapid Vulnerability Assessment Tool for the Commission for Environmental Cooperation and the biennial National Adaptation Forum. Eric is also a founding Board member of the American Society of Adaptation Professionals and participates in the North Pacific Landscape Conservation Cooperative Science and Traditional Ecological Knowledge subcommittee. Eric considers himself lucky to have had the chance to work with many great organizations over the years, including Emerald Coast Environmental Consulting, U.S. EPA Global Change Research Program, World Wildlife Fund, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the University of California, the University of West Florida, Pensacola State College, and S. R. Hansen & Associates. Eric earned a B.A. in biology and a M.S. in Marine Sciences from the University of California Santa Cruz. He now strives to do less operations stuff and more research - and as much sailing and backpacking with his family as possible - but he finds it a small price to pay to be able to work with EcoAdapt's wonderful staff doing great things.
Jen Sokolove is Director of Programs and Strategy at the Water Foundation. She has been working on sustainability issues for more than two decades, with a focus on community-based conservation. Prior to joining the Water Foundation, she led strategy and grantmaking at the Compton Foundation around movement-building and narrative in climate change, reproductive justice, and peace and security. She joined Compton initially to advance its environmental programs on fresh water, climate, and rural conservation in the western United States, as well as sustainable food systems and art for social change.
Before Compton, Jen worked on a variety of community-led conservation projects in California, Montana, and the Pacific Northwest. She serves on the board of EcoAdapt and advisory boards for the Healthy Headwaters project of Carpe Diem West and the Doris Duke Conservation Scholars Program at UC Santa Cruz. Jen received a PhD in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management from UC Berkeley.
Job Titles:
- Director of Programs & Strategy / Water Foundation
From our start until 2022, Jessica Hitt was a Lead Scientist and Program Manager at EcoAdapt. She managed the Climate Adaptation Knowledge Exchange (CAKE; cakex.org) Program, a cutting-edge climate adaptation focused knowledge sharing platform and community of practice. In addition, Jessica provided research and programmatic support to a wide range of EcoAdapt's projects and research efforts. Jessica has broad experience training and building the capacity of adaptation practitioners, developing communities of practice, and facilitating adaptation knowledge exchange. Jessica also created and managed the EcoAdapt-Allianz Foundation Youth Climate Change project, which engaged youth in Washington, DC on climate change issues through an integrated educational program that focused on community action and civic engagement. She served on the United Nation Environment Programme's Global Adaptation Network (GAN) Steering Committee, the U.S. National Adaptation Forum's Program Committee, the California Adaptation Forum's General Advisory Committee, and the Interagency Land Management Adaptation Group. Prior to joining the EcoAdapt team, she worked in the Climate Change Program at the World Wildlife Fund. During her time at WWF, she was part of a team that planned, taught and coordinated the WWF-Allianz Southeast Climate Witness Program, which involved 24 students who were displaced by Hurricane Katrina and the WWF-HP Climate Camp in San Francisco, CA which brought together over 250 natural resource practitioners from over 30 countries to engage on climate adaptation. Jessica graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a degree in Environmental Studies. Jessica currently lives in Los Angeles, CA and enjoys traveling, reading, spending time with family and friends, the beach, and eating (especially Mexican food).
Job Titles:
- Managing Director / Climate Resilience Fund
John Nordgren has spent his career working at the intersection of science and policy and in pursuit of durable solutions that bring people and nature together for the mutual benefit of both. John has expertise in conservation science, policy, and climate change adaptation. He is a nationally recognized leader and champion for the climate adaptation and resilience field of practice. John developed and launched the Climate Resilience Fund (CRF) in 2017 and currently serves as its Managing Director. CRF is a Seattle-based philanthropic collaborative that mobilizes strategic investments in climate services for the benefit of U.S. communities and the natural systems on which they depend. John is also Principal of Foresight Partners, Inc., a consultancy focused in part on helping foundations more effectively incorporate climate considerations into their grantmaking programs and the work of their grantees. He previously served as Senior Advisor, Climate Change (2015) for the Michigan-based Kresge Foundation and as Senior Program Officer (2009-2014) for Kresge's Environment Program, where he developed and implemented Kresge's strategies for advancing the field of climate change adaptation, facilitating over $60M in investments over a seven-year tenure. John has served on the National Academy of Sciences' Board on Atmospheric Science and Climate (BASC) and was a founding member of the Board of Directors for EcoAdapt, Inc. He has served for ten years as a member of the Advisory Committee for the Wildlife Conservation Society's Climate Adaptation Fund, a project of the Doris Duke Foundation focused on wildlife habitat conservation in a changing climate, which he helped to develop. Prior to joining Kresge, John was Program Officer for the Henry P. Kendall Foundation in Boston, where he led the Foundation's Northeastern Landscape Conservation Program and developed and led Kendall's Climate Adaptation Program (2006-08). He was previously Director of Programs for the Massachusetts- based Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences and worked in the Legislative Program of the Natural Resources Defense Council in Washington, D.C. John earned his B.A. in public policy from The American University in Washington, D.C. and M. A. in environmental policy from Tufts University in Medford, MA. John was raised in NJ and called New England home for many years. He currently lives in the Pacific Northwest with his family and dog and enjoys the abundant natural wonders that the region offers by spending as much time as possible hiking, kayaking and growing vegetables.
Judi has spent the majority of her career focused on bookkeeping, business organization and team building. Prior to moving to Washington, she was Vice President/Director of Operations for a multifaceted mutual fund company with offices in AZ, CA, and NY. The company was sold in 2001. In 2002, when Judi arrived in Washington she started my own business focused on supporting small businesses and not-for-profit organizations--allowing her to work with many wonderful people in myriad disciplines. Her business provided bookkeeping and office administration for a woman-owned landscape design/install company, an art gallery, a privately held water company and several retail shops. During that time she also started working with not-for-profit organizations, including Compassionate Listening Project, Bainbridge Island Land Trust and EcoAdapt. She became a permanent, part-time employee of EcoAdapt in 2011 providing bookkeeping and administrative duties. A fun time but Mexico called and Judi retired, sort of, in 2014. All that not-for-profit experience is now being gifted to several US & Mexican not for profits. What a life!
As a Scientist, Kathryn supports a range of research and projects, including EcoAdapt's State of Adaptation Program, by surveying practitioners and writing case studies with the goals of facilitating climate awareness and building capacity for adaptation. Kathryn is dedicated to increasing climate adaptation knowledge and believes that access to accurate and reliable information on climate change and adaptation is a right of all people. Prior to joining EcoAdapt, Kathryn worked in a variety of positions dealing with aspects of climate change, ecology, and conservation. At Florida International University, Kathryn researched the motivations and perceptions of land conservation participants, using the results of this project to inform land trust conservation efforts in Michigan. Kathryn has also worked with grassroots conservation and outreach efforts in Miami and the Galapagos Islands to build resilience and knowledge collaboration capacity. Kathryn's diverse experiences have ignited a passion for working closely with communities, particularly those at high risk or vulnerability, to better understand and facilitate climate change adaptation and conservation relationships. Kathryn comes from a background of natural and social science research and her current interests include the human dimensions of natural resource management as well as environmental and social justice issues. She earned her Master's of Environmental Studies at Florida International University and her Bachelor's in Biology and Anthropology at the University of Miami. Outside of work, Kathryn enjoys traveling, adventures, meeting new people, having a laugh with friends and family, and getting lost in thought and the wonders of the natural world.
Job Titles:
- Chief Scientist
- Executive Director
- President of the Board
Lara thinks climate change is everybody's problem and she wishes someone would bother to do something about it. Her desire for action led her to co-create EcoAdapt with a team of similarly inclined folks in 2008. She serves this fine organization as Executive Director and Chief Scientist. Lara is co-author of numerous foundational and innovative materials on adaptation, including Buying Time: A User's Manual for Building Resistance and Resilience to Climate Change in Natural Systems and Climate Savvy: Adapting Conservation and Resource Management to a Changing World. Her team also created an engaged stakeholder process (first known as Climate Camp; now known as Awareness to Action Workshops) to help everyone create adaptation strategies applicable to their work. She serves on the unfairly maligned, vitally important Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, is a Switzer Environmental Fellow and a United States Environmental Protection Agency Bronze Medalist. Prior to creating EcoAdapt, she was the chief climate change scientist for the World Wildlife Fund, creating their international Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Program, from 2001-2008, and a Research Ecologist with the Environmental Protection Agency from 1998-2001. She earned her Ph.D. at the University of California, Davis in Ecology and her B.A. in Biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. To balance her scientific life, she works to integrate nature and art in her daily life. Because she's an optimist she assumes we'll get our acts together on climate change--who would want the alternative.
Laura leads projects within the Awareness to Action and State of Adaptation programs at EcoAdapt. She takes a special interest in translating technical concepts into materials that can be easily understood by any target audience, and hopes to engage others in a conversation about climate change by connecting the issue with each community's identity, beliefs, and values. Prior to joining EcoAdapt in 2015, Laura was part of a team developing the Massachusetts Climate Action Tool, which provides access to information about climate impacts, fish and wildlife vulnerability, and adaptation strategies and actions on a spatial scale that will be relevant to local policymakers, conservation organizations, state and municipal agencies, and landowners. She also assisted the Northeast Climate Science Center with the development of a report on regional climate change information to assist states in the Northeast and Midwest with updating their State Wildlife Action Plans in 2015. In addition to climate change, Laura has a background in sustainable agriculture and local food systems, and loves learning about anything related to birds. She received her undergraduate degree from Mount Holyoke College, and a Master's in Conservation Biology from Antioch University New England. Laura lives in western Massachusetts, and spends her free time birding, gardening, reading, and singing classical music in a community choir.
Job Titles:
- Owner / Canal Investments, LLC
Matt Kellogg owns and manages Canal Investments, LLC, a private investment company focused on real estate, hospitality and early-stage consumer brand businesses. Matt was a founding partner of Point32, a Seattle-based real estate firm focused on sustainable land use, construction and development in the Pacific Northwest. Matt offers skills in business and brand development as well as real estate marketing, finance and asset management, developed over 20 years of work in the commercial, residential and retail sectors. He serves on the boards of Stone Way Eateries (Tutta Bella Neapolitan Pizzerias) and Jones Soda Co.(JSDA) and is a member of Seattle Round Table. Matt holds a BS in Business Administration (Minor in Anthropology) from Skidmore College. Previously, Matt has served as Board President for Seattle Works, Area Co-Chair of Ducks Unlimited and a Member of the Northwest Advisory Council for American Rivers
Job Titles:
- Partner / Latham & Watkins
- Partner at Latham & Watkins
Roger Chin is a partner at Latham & Watkins and a member of the firm ™s Intellectual Property Litigation practice. For over two decades, he has helped life science clients develop intellectual property strategy and resolve patent disputes involving biotechnology, medical devices, molecular biology, and pharmaceuticals. He has handled patent cases in federal courts across the country and coordinated international disputes around the world. Roger received his JD from Yale Law School, his MD from Yale Medical School, and his AB summa cum laude in Chemistry from Cornell University.
Job Titles:
- Board Secretary / Assistant County Attorney, Johnson County, Iowa