A systems thinker and problem solver by nature, I have more than 35 years of experience working in the natural resource management and non-profit arenas. Sustainability and getting to scale are central concepts that drive my thinking. I really began to understand the importance of scale while serving as a State Director in TN. Later I took on a Divisional role where I was asked to develop conservation strategy for “whole systems” like the Great Lakes and Gulf of Mexico. That part of my career culminated in a project known as MS B – a project focused on the 31 state MS River Basin and its impact on hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico – and one of The Nature Conservancy’s first attempts to truly work at a systems scale. Keeping Forests takes system level thinking and translates it into a Collective Impact type of approach; and to my way of thinking represents the cutting edge of at scale conservation. Aligning diverse and sometimes competitive interests around common solutions can be challenging and sometimes frustrating work – but it’s critical to actually getting to real world solutions and is a challenge I enjoy.Expertise: Aquaculture, Aquatic Ecology/Conservation, Landscape Ecology, Climate Change and Resiliency, Ecosystem Services and related Markets, Forest Management, Non-Profit Management.Skills: System Level Thinking, Designing Collective Impact Related Initiatives, Staff and Board Management, Team Development and Management, Cross-Functional Leadership, Partnership Development and Fundraising, Strategic Planning/Evaluation and Program Management, Writing and Public Speaking.