The Nature Conservancy’s LANDFIRE team is pleased to announce that Spatial Ecologist Sarah Hagen and Climate Change Ecologist Kim Hall have been awarded CODA fellowships. Their work supports TNC’s four priority areas:  Protect Land & Water; Provide Food and Water Sustainably; Tackle Climate Change; Build Healthy Cities.

Seeing an important opportunity for a pilot program on TNC’s U.S. lands to accelerate satellite-enabled impact evaluation at TNC (and in conservation more broadly), Hagen will be comparing satellite data from Conservancy preserves and easements to data from similar sites that were not protected. The work supports the Conservancy’s Shared Conservation Agenda through conducting an initial assessment of TNC’s outcome targets and contributing GIS and landscape ecology expertise to help verify outcomes. The project, which runs through June 2020, is being supervised by Sheila Reddy, Associate Director of Strategic Initiatives, and Giulio Boccaletti, Chief Strategy Officer in Illinois. Hagen splits her time between the Illinois State Chapter and the LANDFIRE Program.  

Hall’s fellowship is in service of the Science for Nature and People Partnership (SNAPP), where she will be an advocate for TNC science and the Shared Conservation Agenda within SNAPP management processes. She will manage team products, serve as a point of contact for TNC staff interested in applying to the SNAPP call for proposals, and will read and review non-TNC proposals to screen for applicability to SNAPP prior to their going out to science review. Hall will also post occasional announcements, news, and achievements about SNAPP working groups’ contributions to TNC science and the Shared Conservation Agenda. Jensen Montambault, Director, Science for Nature and People Partnership, will supervise the fellowship, scheduled to run through September 2020.

The Coda Fellows Program, named in honor of former TNC leader Mike Coda, provides flexible staffing capacity and expertise through short-term assignments to meet The Nature Conservancy’ global needs while providing staff with professional development opportunities and the chance to contribute and learn beyond their program borders.