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.

Cole Soldo is a conservationist who is grounded in the fact that conservation is, ultimately, about people. He comes from The Ohio State University with experience in risk analysis and decision science, measuring the drivers of conservation program participation rates, and farmer conservation identity. His primary research targeted the use of constructed wetlands to address water quality challenges and farmer willingness to adopt edge-of-field conservation measures in the Western Lake Erie Basin.

Cole brings additional ecosystem stewardship and urban sustainability experience to CBI, emphasizing clear communications and finding workable, focused solutions to pressing environmental issues. He is excited to bring an additional viewpoint and expertise to help CBI’s spatial analysis tools become adopted by a wide audience.

Robin Jones is passionate about conservation and complements the CBI team’s expertise, bringing to the organization her deep experience in starting, managing, and growing technology startup companies. She has held leadership roles across a broad array of functions, including marketing, partner/developer ecosystems, IP licensing, sales operations, HR & finance, product & project management, and fundraising. Among her various business experiences, she was Senior VP Marketing & Business Development at Socrata, a platform for publishing, managing, and analyzing government open data. After Esri acquired a company called Geologi for which she served as Chief Operations Officer, she founded and grew the geospatial developer business unit at Esri.

Robin has an MBA from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and a BS in Biological Sciences from Stanford. She serves on the board of directors of TiE Oregon Foundation, is a mentor for several Pacific Northwest-based entrepreneurs, and an active volunteer with several social justice organizations.  She resides in Portland, Oregon, and when she’s not tied to her desk she enjoys knitting, trail running, gardening, hiking, and spending time with her family and pets.

Tyler joined CBI in August 2022 as a software engineer. In previous lives, he has taught high school math and computer science, written software tools for computer animation, and worked as a field biology technician tracking moose calves in northern Idaho. He has always been interested in ecology, sustainability and appropriate technology. 

After growing up on the shores of Puget Sound, Tyler studied computer science at Middlebury college with a particular focus on spatial computing, exploring cartographic design alongside geospatial algorithms. His previous experiences as a GIS analyst and a wildlife technician enable him to communicate effectively with a variety of professionals, and inform the decisions he now makes as a software engineer situated in the world of conservation biology. 

Currently back in the Pacific Northwest, Tyler gets his kicks canoeing, backpacking, and checking the surf forecast.

Moriah Van Voorhis is a GIS Analyst with experience using spatial analysis to aide in the management of declining species. She takes interest in exploring the complexities and patterns present on a landscape to catalyze solutions for the restoration of natural ecosystems. She holds an M.S. in Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology from North Carolina State University.  Her areas of expertise and interest include geographic information systems, species distribution, remote sensing, connectivity modeling, and conservation planning.

I’m a highly motivated climate change ecologist, conservation biologist, sustainability strategist, leadership and science professor, and environmental planner. I’m Chief Scientific and Policy Officer for the Conservation Biology Institute, Affiliate Professor at University of Washington’s Center for Environmental Politics and Inter-disciplinary Arts and Sciences, and Honorary Research Associate of two institutes at the University of Cape Town.

I have had a wonderful career so far, with 34 years working mostly in southern Africa, spanning academia, government, international organizations and initiatives, and national research institutes. Passionate about biodiversity and climate change globally, especially in Africa and the Americas, I operate almost equally comfortably at two levels, planetary and local, with science and society as the ‘lenses’ I use to observe.

In South Africa, I held posts at the South African National Biodiversity Institute of Lead Scientist for Climate Change BioAdaptation and Head of Biodiversity Futures (the latter one of numerous programs I’ve founded and led). From 2013-2016 I was also Honorary President of BirdLife South Africa, and I remain Honorary Research Associate at the University of Cape Town, in both the African Climate and Development Initiative (ACDI) and the Centre of Excellence at the FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology.

On science: my main scientific interests are in the spatial and temporal responses of biodiversity and ecosystems to global change. Through 2016, I ran for 9 years a research team jointly between a university research institute and a government funded science-policy institute, to understand the vulnerability and adaptation of endemic species to complex global changes. To understand their responses, I used biogeography, population, community, behavioural and evolutionary ecology lenses, and collaborated with modellers, geneticists, and statistical ecologists.

On society: my main interests are in envisaging societal and environmental futures, in enabling powerful policy and behavioral change, and in bringing about (peaceful) tipping points for a new economy and sustainable society. Science is a key element in the sustainability transition ahead, but only really quite a small one. Far greater elements are economics, human needs and wants, perception, emotion, faith and how ordinary people make decisions in complex situations. To understand these issues in Africa, I used systems analysis, horizon scanning, trends analysis, early warning systems, citizen science, leadership studies, and complex models (in collaboration with modellers!).

My work blends strategic planning, leadership, research, teaching, publication, writing, editing, public speaking, mentorship and citizen science. I teach young scientists and implementers in spatial ecology, biodiversity conservation, land use planning, climate change, environmental policy, conflict resolution, and leadership. I’ve been fortunate to work with some of the best minds on the planet, and hope a few of their ideas and skills rubbed off.

Apart from my day job, I’m a loving parent (to Cat and Julia Barnard Simmons) and wife (to filmmaker John Bowey), a climber of active volcanoes, modest mountaineer, haphazard trail runner, community volunteer, and film co- producer. I love good music, eclectic and diverse people, beauty and diversity in nature, and yummy vegan cuisine.

Affiliate Professor, University of Washington, Bothell, School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences – https://www.uwb.edu/ias/faculty-and-staff/phoebe-barnard

Affiliate Professor, University of Washington, Seattle, Center for Environmental Politics – https://depts.washington.edu/envirpol/?page_id=21

Honorary Research Associate, University of Cape Town (UCT) FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology – http://www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za/fitz/staff/research/barnard

Honorary Research Associate, UCT African Climate and Development Initiative – http://www.acdi.uct.ac.za/acdi/affiliates-people/dr-phoebe-barnard

Alliance of Leading Environmental Researchers & Thinkers page: http://alert-conservation.org/key-people/

Film co-producer, writer, and storyteller, Transmediavision USA – tmvusa.net/ and https://www.phoebebarnard.com/conservation-writing-filmmaking  

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phoebe-barnard/

personal portal – www.phoebebarnard.com

Dan Airola is a Wildlife Biologist with strong experience in corporate management of consulting businesses, natural resource planning, and biological consulting and research. Dan is President of Conservation Research and Planning, a small northern California firm. He recently retired as present of Northwest Hydraulic Consultants Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of NHC Ltd, a $30 MM Canadian firm that specializes in water resource science and engineering. He also served as co-chair of the firm’s Board of Directors.

Previously, Dan ran his own sole-proprietorship biological consulting firm, served as Vice President and Board Chair of Jones & Stokes Associates, a western U.S. Environmental Consulting firm, and worked as a biologist and planner for the Lassen National Forest. Altogether, he has 40 years of experience practicing and managing environmental and engineering consulting firms based in northern California. He also serves as a Director of an environmental consulting firm and hyrology consulting firm in California and several non-profit conservation groups.

Independently Dan conducts long-term research and conservation programs on at-risk bird species and bird-urban habitat relationships. He has conducted long-term studies and published over 60 scientific papers, including works on the population status, ecology, and conservation of the Purple Martin and Tricolored Blackbird, importance of native oaks to migrant and resident birds in urban habitats, Turkey Vulture and Swainson’s Hawk migration, and effects of West Nile Virus on bird populations.

John Waugh is an adviser on conservation strategies and planning, with a focus on the role of information in conservation policy, and on sustainable finance mechanisms.  He has been involved in protected area management for 30 years, as a park ranger, manager, planner, and strategist.  He is the author of several publications on invasive species and a contributor to several on protected areas, all with IUCN.  After 20 years with IUCN, he is working for Integra LCC based in Washington, DC.  His current interests include risk assessment, eco-informatics, climate adaptation strategies, sustainable finance mechanisms, and learning networks for conservation.   He lives in the Virginia Piedmont hunt country, where he has not yet succeeded in mediating between foxes and hounds.

William (Bill) Ripple is a University Distinguished Professor of Ecology in the Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society as well as the Director of the “Trophic Cascades Program” at Oregon State University. He has published more than 200 journal articles and was co-lead author of the  “World Scientists’ Warning of a Climate Emergency 2021”. He is the director of the Alliance of World Scientists which has 26,000 members from 180 countries.