Nature Based Climate Solutions Advisory Committee

Kathy Abusow is President and CEO of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), a non-profit whose mission is a world that values the benefits from sustainably managed forests and whose vision is to advance sustainability though forest focused collaborations. She oversees standards, conservation, community and educational opportunities that advance sustainability and nature based solutions. Since she joined SFI in 2007, forests certified to the SFI® Forest Management Standard have grown from 140 million acres/56 million hectares to more than a 370 million acres/150 million hectares across public, private, Indigenous and community lands. Kathy also founded Project Learning Tree Canada (PLT Canada), an initiative of SFI. PLT Canada launched its programming in 2018 and since then has placed young adults in over 5000 green jobs and internships in the forest and conservation sector across Canada. This employment and skills development initiative has achieved gender balance in its placements and has included almost 1000 Indigenous young adults from over 100 Indigenous communities across Canada.

Hadley Archer is the Executive Director of Nature United, a Canadian charity whose vision is a future where people and nature are united, and ecosystems, communities and economies are thriving. He oversees a team that led ground-breaking research on Natural Climate Solutions for Canada, that identified the potential in Canada for nature to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions through protecting, managing and restoring our forests, wetlands, grasslands and agricultural lands. He and his team are working in partnership with Indigenous communities, governments and industry to advance innovative solutions that address the climate and biodiversity crises, and that advance reconciliation and support a green economy. Hadley also worked with WWF’s global forest program, with WWF Canada as the VP Strategic Partnerships and Fundraising, and with the Forest Stewardship Council in Canada and Europe, building demand for responsible forest products.

Dr. Peter Boxall is a professor in the Department of Resource Economics & Environmental Sociology at the University of Alberta. His expertise comes from 10 years as a research biologist with the Alberta Fish and Wildlife Division, 10 years as the leader of a research program on the economic valuation of non-timber resources with the Canadian Forest Service (NRCAN), and 25 years as a professor of environmental and resource economics at the University of Alberta.

Dr. Ciara Raudsepp-Hearne is an environmental scientist based in Montreal, Quebec. She is currently the Canada Key Biodiversity Areas Director at Wildlife Conservation Society Canada. Her previous research and consulting work focused on ecosystem services, biodiversity conservation, and social-ecological resilience, across Canada from sea to sea to sea, in Latin America, Sweden, Southern Africa and South East Asia. Recent work includes leading the development of the Bio-Bridge Initiative for the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (a mechanism for technical and scientific cooperation), developing an ecosystem services 'toolkit' for the Canadian government, researching, teaching and facilitating scenario methods and ecosystem service assessment, and advising governments at different scales on mainstreaming ecosystem services. Ciara was the Coordinator of the Subglobal Working Group of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment.

James Snider leads WWF-Canada's Science, Knowledge and Innovation team, which provides the core science expertise underpinning WWF’s work in Canada. His foundation in conservation started at McGill University’s School of Environment with a specialization in Conservation Biology in 2005. He also has a graduate degree in environmental impact assessment from Concordia University. During his 14 years with WWF, Snider has led strategic initiatives through collaborative partnerships with academia, industry, government and Indigenous organizations. A key function of his work at WWF is to identify new and emerging areas to ensure conservation efforts in Canada are at the cutting edge. Most recently, Snider was senior author of the WWF-Canada’s flagship Living Planet Report Canada 2020.

Erika S. Svendsen is a Research Social Scientist with two decades of experience with the USDA Forest Service. Erika is a leader in the field of environmental stewardship and nature-based solutions. She actively publishes and participates in a range of science-practice groups including the US DOI Strategic Sciences Group for Superstorm Sandy and has recently collaborated on a cross-agency report, Green Readiness, Response and Recovery: A Collaborative Synthesis. She is a recipient of several awards including a Forest Service Chief's Award for engaging urban America and an Early Career Scientist Award for the co-development of STEW-MAP, a tool promote equity, coordination and collaboration in environmental governance.

Mario is the Senior Research Chair in 4R Nutrient Stewardship and Professor of Applied Soil Ecology at the University of Manitoba. His training includes a B.Sc. in Botany and Physical Geography, an M.Sc. in Soil Science, a Ph.D. in Plant Sciences, and Post-Doctoral research in Nematology.
Mario was recently appointed a Senior Industrial Research Chair for five years. Previously, from 2006 to 2017, he served as the Canada Research Chair in Applied Soil Ecology. The Industrial Research Chair Program is advancing research in 4R nitrogen management practices on the Prairies to give farmers and industry solutions to increase profitability while improving soil and environmental health.