Karl is a researcher and advocate working at the intersection of climate change, energy transition, and conservation. He is helping to shape CBI’s global engagement strategy on nature-positive infrastructure and renewable energy.  He is also assessing strategies to meet 2030 targets of the Global Biodiversity Framework and other multilateral environmental agreements, reflecting the technical knowledge and cultural imperatives of Indigenous communities.

Karl has engaged in research and policy on climate change mitigation and adaptation for two decades, recently as Senior Advisor at the SLOCAT Partnership, a global NGO driving systemic change through sustainable transport.  At SLOCAT, Karl led science-based analyses to meet targets of the Sustainable Development Goals and Paris Agreement in a network of 90+ UN agencies, multilateral development banks and NGOs. Karl has led peer-reviewed publications on 1.5ºC transport pathways (cited in the IPCC AR6) and on transport ‘quick wins’ (for UK Department for International Development).

Karl is based in pancake-flat Chicago, where he’s still trying to accept the city’s rugged built environment as a substitute for the Rocky Mountains of his youth.

Kerrie Ishkarin recently joined the CBI Software & Tool Team, bringing 8+ years of experience working as a user interface (UI), user experience (UX), and product designer. She has worked on desktop and mobile product designs using tools such as Figma, Sketch, and InVision to create sketches, wireframes, prototypes, and implementation-ready designs.

Kerrie has a Bachelor of Fine Art and a Certificate in UX Design from Rhode Island School of Design.

Dr. Chris Cosma is a community ecologist and pollination biologist specializing in developing data-driven conservation strategies. An adventurous and rather nomadic childhood spent in Colorado, Michigan, New Jersey, and California gave Chris early insight into the diversity of people, ecosystems, and environmental problems in the US. Between surf sessions, Chris earned his BS in Ecology at UC Santa Barbara, and then completed his PhD in Ecology at UC Riverside. There, his research focused on the impacts of climate change on plant-pollinator interactions, and how to apply ecological data and tools to guide effective insect conservation actions. Although he focused on moths in this research, Chris loves all insects and is determined to help protect them and their ecosystem services. In addition to pollination and climate change ecology, Chris has expertise in spatial ecology, ecological network science, molecular ecology, plant ecophysiology, insect biology and identification, and environmental policymaking. 

During his doctoral research, Chris bridged the gap between science and conservation action by developing an innovative web application for butterfly and moth conservation in California. The app, which applies ecological network analysis to guide plant selections, is being used by thousands of people to expand and connect insect habitat across California. After garnering media attention and interest from multiple agencies, Chris formed an interdisciplinary working group through the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis to build upon the tool. Chris has been invited to speak to groups all around the country about this work, and in his role at CBI, he brings with him resources and expertise from his various collaborations. Chris currently lives in Spokane, Washington, and when he is not devising strategies to protect our insect overlords, he enjoys backyard permaculture and outdoor adventures with his partner and dog. 

Libbey White grew up enjoying the natural splendor of Montana, which instilled in her an instinctive interest in conservation. Libbey majored in biology, but was a laundromat attendant, book store clerk, ranch cook, and lab assistant, among other things, before getting close to working with data and code. She got her start in the software field thanks to willing tutors at the Center for Computational Biology at Montana State University. Since then she has held a variety of software development roles, including exhibit software developer at Oregon Museum of Science & Industry and research software developer at Knight Cancer Institute, where she created a genomic data visualization application. She now has over 15 years of software development experience, much of it related to science and data visualization.

Jorge Diaz joined CBI in 2024. He started his career in technology as an artist, animator, and designer working on both the mainstream and the educational video game industry.

After completing an MS in Computer Science he started as a software engineer in the public sector. Sometime in between he taught college classes in storyboarding as well as computer science and co-owned two art supply stores with his wife. His developer experience is in accessibility, automation, full stack development, security, user interface design, and developing systems for a wide variety of user types.

Jorge’s love for nature started while growing up in Puerto Rico where he spent a lot of time fishing, swimming, and playing with his brother and friends in forested and undeveloped lots. He lives in the Northeast where he enjoys mentoring, camping, exercising, drawing, writing, and illustrating comic books and occasionally making music-like sounds with a guitar.

Brianna Fair focuses on project architecture, technical project management, behavioral analytics, and full-stack software engineering, with a particular interest in UX for its direct link to user behavior and interaction. Brianna has worked in tech since the beginning of her career, leading developing and growing a number of digital departments and software teams throughout the West Coast. Much of her work has been focused on integrating a behavioral analytics layer into software to allow for direct feedback to the user experience, in order to better personalize digital interactions. Most recently, she co-founded a decentralized hydroponic farming initiative, based out of Corvallis, Oregon.

As a quantitative ecologist and conservation biologist, Erin Conlisk integrates field experiments with quantitative techniques to understand California plant and wildlife responses to climate change, land-use change, and their interactions with changing wildfire regimes. Her research ranges from applied land management to academic ecology and is typically multidisciplinary, focusing on conservation co-benefits in socio-ecological systems. Currently, Erin is interested in using empirically-driven vegetation and wildfire simulation modeling to understand the influence of climate change, urban development, and forest management on California wildfire risk.

Previously, Erin has used vegetation simulation models to understand the impacts of wildfire, examined satellite data to support waterbird management in the Central Valley of California, modeled landscape connectivity for iconic wildlife in Southern California, created mechanistic models of species’ distributions and abundances, analyzed data from a treeline warming experiment, and worked in the social sciences with an emphasis on educational equity and environmental justice. When Erin is not working you will find her getting outdoors, talking to young people about newfangled things they didn’t have in her day, and combining these two pastimes.

As a Geospatial Analyst, Grace is interested in applying geospatial technologies to translate data into accessible and actionable conservation solutions. Her areas of expertise and interest include geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing, data visualization, and interactive web maps. Grace has broad experience in conservation, most recently with the Center for Large Landscape Conservation to analyze the potential impacts of linear infrastructure development on wildlife across Asia. She has also worked with Conservation International to develop a land-use planning tool and with the National Park Service to identify disturbances in National Parks using satellite imagery. Grace has an M.S. in Environmental Observation and Informatics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a Professional Certificate in Geospatial Programming and Web Map Development from Penn State University, and a B.S. in Environmental Studies from Yale University.

Grace is passionate about the process of linking knowledge to action, and through her work hopes to use geospatial data to inform land-use decisions that balance the needs of people and biodiversity. She is a 2022 Pacific Crest Trail thru-hiker, and currently lives in Bend, OR, where she enjoys rock climbing, skiing, and jigsaw puzzles.

With a background in landscape and quantitative ecology, Justin applies ecological systems thinking coupled with geographic information systems (GIS) technology to help understand the past, present, and future condition of the world around us. Special interest areas include:

By applying data science through storytelling, Justin provides innovative technical expertise to develop practical insight on ecosystems and their components for a multi-stakeholder audience that helps inform decision making for short- or long-term planning and management. He navigates projects with a holistic approach by analyzing local, site-specific attributes in the context of their integration with the surrounding landscape. GIS mapping, modeling, and analysis are frequently leveraged to derive compelling, data-driven narratives that explain how landscapes and people influence one another. His work aims to identify opportunities for improving adaptive capacity to balance the relationship between people, planet, and profit for a more sustainable, resilient future.

Justin holds a Master of Environmental Science and Management (M.E.S.M.) from the Bren School at the University of California, Santa Barbara, a Certificate in Global Sustainability from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a B.A. in Communication from Northwestern University. He resides in San Diego where he enjoys being a frequent patron of the San Diego Zoo & Safari Park and tending to his indoor jungle of houseplants.

Beverly (Bev) Law is Professor Emeritus of Global Change Biology & Terrestrial Systems Science in the Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society at Oregon State University. She is a fellow of the American Geophysical Union and the Earth Leadership Program. She has published more than 240 refereed journal articles and book chapters and is a Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researcher, in the top 1% in the world across fields (H index > 100). Her 30 years of research includes the effects of climate, wildfire and management on forest carbon processes, and related emissions to the atmosphere at multiple scales from ecosystems to regional and global, and forest carbon accounting. She has testified in multiple US congressional hearings on topics including climate change, wildfires, and forest management. You can find her publications here, such as “Creating Strategic Reserves to Protect Forest Carbon and Reduce Biodiversity Losses in the United States”: http://terraweb.forestry.oregonstate.edu/beverly-law.