Director Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Policy
Talk to me about: Biodiversity Policy, Fresh Water, Ecosystem Services, Sustainable Development, International Policy
Location: U.S. - Colorado
Languages: English, Spanish, French
contact me Lina leads Conservation International’s engagement in international policy arenas that deal with biodiversity and ecosystem services, particularly freshwater. She works across the institution with CI’s field staff, scientists, and other experts to ensure that biodiversity health and its contribution to human well-being are fully considered in international policy decisions. This is done through a combination of targeted scientific and policy analysis, technical and strategic support to national governments negotiating in international policy arenas, guidance for implementation at the national level, and collaboration with other like-minded groups. Major policy areas that Lina is currently working on include the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, the newly created Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and the UN Watercourses Convention, which provides a framework for the use of shared water resources. Prior to taking on her role in International Policy, Lina spent four years providing strategic planning advice to CI’s Latin America programs.
Lina completed undergraduate studies in environmental science and policy, with a focus on international relations (University of Florida, FL) and a Master’s degree in geography with a focus on the overlaps between environment and development (University of Cambridge, UK). She is a native of Colombia, where she spent several months a year from the time her family moved to the US until her late teens and where her love of nature and awareness of the challenge of development were both nurtured. She is fascinated by the relationship between human society and the environment that ultimately sustains us. Lina has also lived and conducted field work on Costa Rica’s pacific coast and worked for the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the US Coastal America program.