Phoebe Barnard, PhD

I'm lucky enough to work on some of the most compelling, urgent, existential issues of our time - as a sustainability strategist, climate change ecologist, ecosystem scientist, conservation biologist, planner, policy translator, media and communications strategist and film co-producer.  I've realized I am a civilization-shifter, connector and convenor. 

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I lead teams; I support others leading teams; I translate science into policy, planning and management. I make films about our agency and tools to create a better society and world.  I teach, mentor, write, and speak about stuff publicly.  There's not enough time in the day.

My passions involve helping the world learn from its mistakes to become smarter, fairer, cleaner - taking steps towards a new world order, 'where people and the planet actually matter.' 

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I've worked globally, nationally, bioregionally and locally - often with one foot in government and the other in academia - on climate change, biodiversity, fire ecology, wildlands and urban landscapes, human ecology and behavior change.

 

By day, I'm the founding convenor of the Global Restoration Collaboration and co-producer of a four-film documentary series.  I was founding CEO, and am now advisor, of the Stable Planet Alliance, focusing on bending the curve on human population and resource consumption.  I'm also Associate Science, Policy & Comms Strategist with the Conservation Biology Institute, Affiliate Professor (environmental futures, ecosystem health and conservation science) at the University of Washington, and Research Associate of the University of Cape Town's (UCT's) FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology and its African Climate and Development Initiative.   

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From 2017-2021, I was Chief Science and Policy Officer of the Conservation Biology Institute, Exec Director and restructuring strategist of the Pacific Biodiversity Institute, and senior consultant (via the Center for Large Landscape Conservation) for the IUCN Connectivity Conservation Specialist Group and its Transport and Marine Connectivity working groups.

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I've been privileged to work in southern Africa for 34 years, through early 2017. I was lead scientist for climate change bioadaptation and biodiversity futures at the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI).  I led two joint SANBI / UCT research teams: one on future scenarios for biodiversity under land use and policy change in Africa, and one on endemic birds' vulnerability to climate and land use change along Africa's southwestern coasts.  Before that, in the 1990s and early 2000s, I founded and led Namibia's award-winning first national programs on biodiversity and climate change. 

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Impatient with the limitations of science, I'm interested in sustainability tipping points in the natural world, and trying to hasten change in human economies and behavior, in society and politics through engaging local and regional policymakers, planners, and communities.

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By night, I'm a loving wife, parent, neighbor, community volunteer and film co-producer. 

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These are times of rapid social, political, environmental, and often personal change. We need to look forward, accelerate our work, and increase our collective impact.  Contact me to talk collaboration!