About

I am a scientist in the Computational Ecology and Environmental Sciences Group at Microsoft Research where I head our Conservation Science Research Unit - combining work on my three main interests of Science, Policy, and Tools & Technology.

I lead the CEES group's efforts at the interface between scientific research and policy implementation - applying our science and tools to help achieve international environmental goals. This is primarily through my responsibilities as the scientific lead for Microsoft's partnership with the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species where I serve on the IUCN Red List Committee. I hold a formal appointment as the 'Advisor on Science and Innovation' to the United Nations Environmental Programme - World Conservation Monitoring Center (UNEP-WCMC) and serve as an advisor to the Global Environmental Facility as they formulate their ongoing biodiversity funding strategy.

I jointly created and lead the Technology for Nature Unit, an initiative between Microsoft Research, the Zoological Society of London, and departments at University College London with a mission to rapidly scale up the global conservation response through technology innovations. I have a strong interest in distributed biodiversity data collection, serving on the advisory board to the European Bioidiversity Observation Network, and having been a longstanding advisor to the citizen science platform iNaturalist.org.

Prior to joining Microsoft Research I was the co-founder of EarthAudit LLC, a company specialising in providing predictive information about the planet. Doing the same at Microsoft Research was an ultimately compelling opportunity, although I am still involved in the EarthAudit Agricultural Yield Pilot - a World Bank funded project combining data, models and telecommunication networks to provide agricultural predictions across multiple West African countries.

I hold a bachelor’s degree in Wildlife Ecology and Zoology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and after graduation served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Malawi. I completed my PhD in Ecology from Duke University's Nicholas School of the Environment and am currently an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Kent's Durrell Institute for Conservation and Ecology (DICE).