Plenary: Achieving an Effective and Equitable Pathway to 30×30

Date: Sunday July 17, 2022, 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm PDT (2 hours)

Description:

Recent science on the state of our environment has made abundantly clear that transformative action is needed to address both the biodiversity and climate crises. Calls to address the joint crises by conserving at least 30% of Earth by 2030 (“30×30”) have gained support from government and conservation leaders at global and national levels. 30×30 also aligns with the need to improve equitable access to nature, ensure diverse stakeholder involvement, and support locally led initiatives. The US administration has committed to achieving 30×30 via its “America the Beautiful” initiative, and to pursuing science-supported nature-based solutions as announced on Earth Day of this year. Given these initiatives, it is timely to explore how conservation science can be applied to help achieve and track ecologically-meaningful conservation outcomes. The panel speakers will provide a multi-faceted perspective on key barriers and opportunities for mainstreaming conservation science and data to effectively address the biodiversity and climate crises and to improve equitable access to healthy lands and waters.

Panelists:

Heather Tallis

Assistant Director; Acting Director

Conservation and Biodiversity Sciences; White House Office: Science and Technology Policy

Heather Tallis is the Assistant Director for Conservation and Biodiversity Sciences and the Acting Director of the National Nature Assessment in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. She has deep experience advancing science and policy that bridges nature, the economy and health. She provides science input to the Biden-Harris Administration’s America the Beautiful effort, leads cross agency action on nature-based solutions, and worked with the US Global Change Research Program to establish the National Nature Assessment. Through previous work with The Nature Conservancy and the Natural Capital Project, she has designed and informed conservation practice with local communities, governments and the private sector around the globe. She has brought biodiversity and conservation expertise to the World Economic Forum, U.S. National Climate Assessment and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. Heather also serves as a Visiting Professor at the University of California, Berkeley in the School of Public Health.

Kim Tenggardjaja

Deputy Director for Nature Conservation

White House Council on Environmental Quality

Kim Tenggardjaja is the Deputy Director for Nature Conservation at the White House Council on Environmental Quality, where she advises on the development of science-based, equitable strategies for conserving nature. She focuses on the Biden-Harris Administration’s America the Beautiful initiative, as well as habitat connectivity, wildlife corridors, and large-landscape conservation. She is on detail from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, where she was the first-ever Biodiversity Coordinator and supported implementation of the California Biodiversity Initiative. Kim also served as the coordinator for the California Landscape Conservation Partnership (formerly the California Landscape Conservation Cooperative) and worked for several years at the California State Water Resources Control Board. She brings state-level experience in conservation planning and policy, collaborative conservation, intra and interagency coordination, science communication, and public outreach. She earned her Ph.D. and MA in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of California Santa Cruz.

Jennifer Norris

Deputy Secretary for Biodiversity and Habitat

California Natural Resources Agency

Jennifer serves as Deputy Secretary for Biodiversity and Habitat at the California Natural Resources Agency.  She leads the state’s 30×30 initiative and oversees “Cutting Green Tape” in support of landscape scale habitat restoration. Jennifer has held numerous positions in federal and state government including most recently as supervisor of the Sacramento Office for the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.   She has extensive experience in conservation policy, endangered species protection and ecosystem management. She holds a B.S. in Resource Policy and Planning from Cornell University, an M.S. in Conservation Biology from the University of Michigan, and a Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of New Mexico.  When she is not at work, she can be found exploring wild beaches, forests, and deserts with her family.

Acting Director

Nevada Department of Conservation & Natural Resources

Jim Lawrence is the Acting Director of the Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (NDCNR), and has over 30 years of experience spanning all aspects of natural resource protection and land use planning in Nevada. He actively engages with Nevada’s broad range of stakeholders putting science into action to address the many contemporary and emerging challenges and opportunities across the state, including advancing environmental improvement and sustainable outdoor recreation initiatives, overseeing the development and implementation of Nevada’s cutting-edge sagebrush ecosystem conservation credit program, and leading efforts to preserve Nevada’s unique biodiversity and natural heritage. Additionally, he served as Executive Officer for the Nevada State Land Use Planning Agency, and currently represents NDCNR on the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Governing Board.

Moderator:

Justin Brashares

Professor and Goertz Chair

University of California, Berkeley

Justin Brashares is a professor and Goertz Chair in UC Berkeley’s Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management. Justin’s research integrates methods from ecology with interdisciplinary science to better understand how human activities are impacting biodiversity, and to highlight and communicate the everyday consequences of these changes for society. Work in Justin’s group considers the economic, political and cultural factors that drive and, in turn, are driven by global change. Through these efforts, Justin and his group at Berkeley strive to identify empirically-based, action-oriented strategies for conservation of ecosystems. Outside of his research, Justin serves as an advisor to more than a dozen state, federal, tribal and non-profit groups, including as a member of the National Geographic Society’s Committee on Research and Exploration, and on the boards of the Benioff Ocean Initiative and the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Center for Data Science and the Environment.