As the Director of U.S. Nature4Climate, I manage a national coalition of 29 organizations and a budget of $1.5 million, with the mission of accelerating implementation of Natural Climate Solutions in the United States, serving as an important complement to efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the energy and transportation sectors. Natural Climate Solutions are land management practices that increase carbon sequestration and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from farms, forests, grasslands, wetlands and urban environments.In this role, I develop the coalition’s strategic plan, manage the USN4C Steering Committee and workgroups focused on science, policy and communications, track new science and policy initiatives, conceive and execute campaigns focused on key Natural Climate Solutions issues, facilitate thought leadership on the subject through our “Super Natural” blog, and deliver our message through targeted, research-based communications. Through these efforts, USN4C has become a central hub of efforts to support Natural Climate Solutions implementation. I am currently based in Portland, Oregon. USN4C’s secretariat is housed at The Nature Conservancy.

The U.S. Nature4Climate secretariat is housed at The Nature Conservancy. In this role, I serve full-time as the Director of U.S. Nature4Climate.

As a research fellow, I studied policy options for implementing a Natural Climate Solutions (NCS) strategy to sequester carbon on natural and working lands in Oregon. Using this research, I wrote a policy brief outlining options for incentivizing landowner participation in Oregon NCS programs. I also conducted extensive research on NCS policies introduced in U.S. Climate Alliance member states, producing a reference guide to serve as a resource for developing NCS policies nationwide.

I managed the start-up phase of Tony Evers’ successful gubernatorial campaign by developing and supervising the implementation of the campaign’s initial finance, earned media, social media and message strategies. I orchestrated the campaign’s launch, developed its budget, and hired and managed a six-person campaign staff and a team of strategic consultants.

As Vice President of The Mellman Group, I offered strategic communications advice to dozens of political candidates, non-profit organizations and independent expenditure committees. I managed over 300 survey research projects from beginning to end, designed dozens of focus group discussion guides and moderated over 100 focus groups. Using the results of our surveys, I helped design and execute sophisticated messaging strategies to help my clients win elections and enact important policies.My political clients included John Kerry's presidential campaign, Governor Jim Doyle (WI), Senators Heidi Heitkamp (ND), Brian Schatz (HI) and Harry Reid (NV) and Congressmen Seth Moulton (MA) and Jim Langevin (RI). I helped the Wisconsin Senate Democrats take control of the State Senate by successfully recalling 3 Republican senators. Internationally, I managed research projects in Romania, Mongolia, the Philippines, Albania, Israel and the Republic of Georgia.In the public policy realm, I helped pass successful ballot initiatives focusing on gun background checks, tobacco control policy and transportation funding, and worked with a variety of non-profit organizations to advance public policy efforts, including the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, the Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, the American Heart Association, and the Forest County Potawatomi Tribe’s effort to strengthen Wisconsin’s renewable energy standard.