Dr. Bronson Griscom leads Conservation International’s science applied to reducing greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere through Natural Climate Solutions (NCS). These are actions to protect, restore, and improve the management of forests, agricultural lands, and wetlands while safeguarding biodiversity and food. Bronson and his team conduct research on NCS, to catalyze their effective implementation at global, national, and local scales. Prior to his role at CI, Bronson served as Director of Forest Carbon Science at The Nature Conservancy, where he led the research team that published the landmark study on NCS in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2017). Prior to joining The Nature Conservancy, Bronson coordinated a successful effort at the U.S. Department of State, as an AAAS fellow, to make climate change funding available for forest-climate initiatives through the Global Environmental Facility (GEF). He completed a post-doc at the Canaan Valley Institute in West Virginia studying...

Anne has been part of Ocean Conservancy’s policy and advocacy work since 2014. She leads the organization’s commitment to ocean planning, ensuring that as our ocean becomes increasingly busy, we embrace smarter marine management for a healthy ocean, robust economy and vibrant communities. Spending her early years just a short stroll from the beach in southern California, and then later growing up in New Jersey passing summers weekends “down the shore,” Anne spent a lot of time playing in the ocean. But it was really the underwater photography of Cousteau and others that showed her the incredible worlds that lurked below the murky waves and got her hooked. Something about the sea, with its uncharted depths and wild and amazing creatures, stirred her imagination and has stayed with her ever since. A career environmental attorney, she has spent the last 15 years advocating for better management and planning of our...

Lisa grew up on a Nebraska farm where crops were grown with the help of every pesticide and herbicide available. The concept of environmentalist was not in the region’s lexicon. When she ran the family hotel business in Mexico in the 1990’s her decisions were defined by the bottom line, and not by green. Nonetheless, a love of the land planted in Nebraska burgeoned into a career in environmental advocacy. Lisa owned and operated two family hotels in Acapulco, Mexico from 1983-1993 when she moved to Charlotte, NC, with her husband Bob Perkowitz. Seeking to ensure that Charlotte became neither Atlanta nor Mexico City, she became a force in greening Charlotte. She Co-Chaired the 1997 Charlotte Regional Environmental Summit, was the Interim Executive Director of Voices & Choices. During her time as President of the national Sierra Club from 2005 to 2007, Lisa transitioned the environmental organization from its traditional...

Matt Russell has spent his career advocating for social justice—the first 11 years training for and working in ministry, 16 years doing secular work focused primarily on economic and environmental sustainability, and since April 2018 has been drawing on both backgrounds to lead Iowa Interfaith Power & Light. He studied for priesthood with the Catholic Diocese of Des Moines from 1994 to 1996 and earned an M.S. in Rural Sociology from Iowa State University in 2003. Matt worked at the Drake University Agricultural Law Center (2006-2018) focused on a number of agriculture and rural development issues including the role farmers can play in helping to solve the climate crisis. He served on the USDA Iowa Farm Service Agency State Committee from 2010 through 2017. Prior to Drake, he was an organizer for Iowa Citizen Action Network, worked for Catholic Rural Life, and taught religion at Bishop Gorman High School in...