Speaker Biographies
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SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES Keynote Speaker P. LYNN SCARLETT Global Managing Director for Public Policy The Nature Conservancy Washington, D.C. www.nature.org In her role as Global Managing Director, Lynn Scarlett influences climate and nature-based solutions policy—in the United States and the 69 countries in which the Conservancy influences conservation. Climate change is one of the world’s most urgent challenges and an immediate risk to our communities, economies, and to our conservation mission. Lynn believes that practical, innovative solutions can create a prosperous, low-carbon future that is cleaner, healthier, and more secure for everyone and that nature-based solutions are an essential component of controlling carbon pollution and protecting against climate impacts. Most recently, she was the Deputy Secretary and Chief Operating Officer of the U.S. Department of the Interior, Lynn also served as the Acting Secretary of the Interior in 2006. While Interior’s Deputy Secretary, Lynn initiated and chaired the Department’s Cooperative Conservation Working Group and it’s first-ever Climate Change Task Force. She established the Interior’s Ocean and Coastal Activities office to coordinate cross-departmental ocean and coastal work. She chaired the nation’s Wildland Fire Leadership Council. She served on the Executive Committee of the President’s Management Council. Lynn is author or co-author of publications on climate change adaptation; ecosystem services; large landscape conservation; and science and decision making. She chairs the Science Advisory Board of NOAA, co-chairs the Landscape Conservation Cooperatives Council established in 2014 by the U.S. Department of the Interior, and co-chairs the National Academy of Sciences Sustainability Roundtable. She also served on the US Global Change Research Program Committee and is a co-convening lead author of the National Climate Assessment. She is on the Dean’s Advisory Council of the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at UC Santa Barbara. She also serves on the boards of trustees of the National Wildlife Refuge Association and is a member of the Coordinating Council of the Practitioners’ Network for Large Landscape Conservation. Lynn received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in political science from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she also completed her Ph.D. coursework and exams in political science and political economy. KATHY ABBOTT President and Chief Executive Officer Boston Harbor Now Boston, Massachusetts www.islandalliance.org Kathy Abbott, President and CEO of Boston Harbor Now, is an experienced executive and entrepreneur in government and non-profits. She previously served as CEO of Tower Hill Botanic Garden, Interim President and Executive Vice President at the Trustees of Reservations, and Director of the Conservation and Recreation Campaign at the Trust for Public Land. As the first Executive Director and President of the Boston Harbor Island Alliance, Kathy helped to establish a new national park in Boston Harbor. In state government, she served as the first Assistant Secretary for Land Conservation and later created the Division of Resource Conservation. In 2003, Kathy was recruited as the first Commissioner of the new Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation. She received her Associates Degree in Arboriculture and Park Management from the Stockbridge School of Agriculture, a Bachelor’s Degree in Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning from the University of Massachusetts, and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. TIM ABBOTT Director, Litchfield Hills Greenprint Housatonic Valley Association Cornwall Bridge, Connecticut www.litchfieldgreenprint.org Tim Abbott has been the Director of the Litchfield Hills Greenprint since 2006. During his tenure, the Greenprint Collaborative has facilitated more than 3,300 acres of protected land, leveraging nearly $11M in public and private funding. Tim previously served as Director of The Nature Conservancy’s three-state Berkshire Taconic Landscape Program and as a Program Director with the Trust for Public Land in Connecticut. He currently serves on the Connecticut Land Conservation Council, the Steering Committee of the Regional Conservation Partnership, the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection's Natural Heritage, Open Space & Watershed Land Acquisition Review Board, and the State Forestry Committee. Tim holds an M.A. from Clark University in International Development (Fulbright Fellowship recipient) and a B.A. in English from Haverford College. AMANDA BABSON Coastal Landscape Adaptation Coordinator National Park Service, Northeast Region Narragansett, Rhode Island www.northatlanticlcc.org Amanda Babson is the Coastal Landscape Adaptation Coordinator for the Northeast Region of the National Park Service. Amanda represents the NPS in the North Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative, working towards the development and delivery of science and tools to support landscape-scale climate adaptation. She leads science and resource management efforts related to climate change adaptation for coastal national parks in the Northeast Region and throughout the nation. Prior to NPS, she worked for the US Environmental Protection Agency where she was also an AAAS Science Policy Fellow. She received a Ph.D. in Oceanography from the University of Washington and a B.A. in Physics from Carleton College. EMILY BATESON Coordinator Practitioners’ Network for Large Landscape Conservation Boston, Massachusetts www.largelandscapenetwork.org Emily Bateson is Coordinator of the Practitioners’ Network for Large Landscape Conservation and Senior Conservation Fellow at the Center for Large Landscape Conservation. She was previously Conservation Director at the Highstead Foundation and Coordinator of the New England Wildlands and Woodlands Initiative. Emily has worked in whole systems conservation for 30 years, including co-founding (2003) and serving as the first director of Two Countries, One Forest in the Northern Appalachian/Acadian region of the US and Canada. EDWARD BECKER President Essex County Greenbelt Essex, Massachusetts www.ecga.org Ed Becker has over 30 years of experience in land conservation, environmental protection and nonprofit management and has been president of the Essex County Greenbelt Association since 1987. Ed has had a direct role in several hundred land conservation projects, including over 150 conservation easements, resulting in the protection of more than 16,000 acres across Essex County. Following his graduation from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Ed joined a national consulting firm providing energy and environmental analysis to the public and private sectors. He next served in regional and national directorship positions at the CEIP Fund, an environmental internship program. Ed is a past president of the Massachusetts Land Trust Coalition and recipient of the Massachusetts Governor’s Award for Open Space Protection. JESSICA BROWN Executive Director New England Biolabs Foundation Ipswich, Massachusetts www.nebf.org Jessica Brown is Executive Director of the New England Biolabs Foundation, an independent, private foundation whose mission is to foster stewardship of landscapes and seascapes and the biocultural diversity found in these places. Previously, she was Senior Vice President for International Programs with the Quebec-Labrador Foundation/Atlantic Center for the Environment. She has three decades of experience with community-based conservation projects in countries of Africa, the Caribbean, Mesoamerica, Andean South America, Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans. A member of IUCN’s World Commission on Protected Areas, Jessica chairs its Protected Landscapes Specialist Group. She is chair of the governing board of Terralingua and co-chair of International Funders for Indigenous Peoples. Jessica has published widely on topics related to protected areas and stewardship of biocultural landscapes. She is an associate member of the Graduate Faculty of Rutgers University (Cultural Heritage and Preservation Studies), and holds degrees from Clark University and Brown University. WAYNE CASTONGUAY Executive Director Ipswich River Watershed Association Ipswich, Massachusetts www.ipswichriver.org Wayne Castonguay has an extensive background in nonprofit management and the protection of natural resources. Prior to becoming Executive Director in 2012, he worked for The Trustees of Reservations for 14 years as Regional Ecologist, General Manager of Appleton Farms, and director of the statewide Agriculture Program. Previously, Wayne worked for 10 years as a Biologist for Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries. A lifelong resident of Ipswich, he has served as a member of its Conservation Commission, Open Space Committee, Shellfish Advisory Board, Coastal Pollution Committee, and Stormwater Management Committee. He co-founded the Great Marsh Coalition and the national Farm-Based Education Network. Wayne received a M.S. in Oceanography from the University of Connecticut and a B.S. in Fisheries and Wildlife Biology from the University of Massachusetts. KIMBERLY DRISCOLL Mayor City of Salem Salem, Massachusetts www.salem.com Kimberley Driscoll has been Mayor of Salem since 2006 and is the city’s first woman mayor. Prior to being elected Mayor she served two terms on the Salem City Council and as the Deputy City Manager and Chief Legal Counsel for the City of Chelsea, Massachusetts.