Agenda - Salazar Center for North American Conservation

This agenda is preliminary and will be updated with further details as they become available.

Wednesday, October 11

7:30 am – Continental breakfast and registration/check-in

8:30 am – Welcome and introductory remarks

Amy Parsons, President, Colorado State University
Luis Benitez (emcee), Principal, Endeavor Consulting

9:00 am – Setting the stage: The state of nature-based solutions in North America through a lens of science, community, equity, and policy

Lauren Oakes, Adjunct Professor, Conservation Scientist, Science Writer, Stanford University
Lydia Olander, Director, Ecosystem Services Program, Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability, Duke University
Crystal Upperman, Senior Manager, Deloitte
Moderated by Jodi Hilty, President and Chief Scientist, Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (Y2Y)

10:15 am – Break

10:30 am – Indigenous approaches to advance climate and biodiversity solutions: The role for Traditional Ecological Knowledge

Gwen Bridge, CEO, Gwen Bridge Consulting; member of the Saddle Lake Cree Nation
James Rattling Leaf, Principal, Wolakota Lab LLC; citizen of the Oceti Sakowin, Sicangu Lakota

11:20 am – Roots So Deep: Building a path to solving climate change with hooves, heart and soil

Peter Byck, Professor of Practice, School of Sustainability, College of Global Futures, Arizona State University

12:15 pm – Lunch and networking

In addition to the general lunch session, this time will include an invite-only Rising Leader’s Lunch, dedicated to rising conservation leaders to network and participate in a facilitated discussion on the opportunities for engaging with nature-based solutions

1:30 pm – Transformative change in the private sector, Part 1: Bridging climate and nature

Jeannie Renné-Malone, Vice President, Global Sustainability, VF Corporation

2:00 pm – Transformative change in the private sector, Part 2: How carbon and biodiversity markets can help achieve a nature-positive future

Citlali Cortés Montaño, Senior Sector Coordinator, Biodiversity and Forestry, KfW Development Bank
Kevin Maddaford, Director of U.S. and Canada Carbon Markets, The Nature Conservancy
Shaun O’Rourke, Director, Quantified Ventures
Moderated by Peter Stein, Co-founder, Conservation Finance Network

3:00 pm – Break

3:10 pm – Blue Carbon Conservation Across Borders: Binational blue carbon efforts in North America

Tannia Frausto, Climate Change Director, WILDCOAST
Angela Kemsley, Conservation Director, WILDCOAST
Moderated by Alonso Aguirre, Dean, Warner College of Natural Resources, CSU

3:45 pm – Conservative Voices in Climate Change

Tiffany Turner, Director of Climate Solutions, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

4:15 pm – Closing remarks

Luis Benitez (emcee), Principal, Endeavor Consulting

4:30 pm – Reception and networking

Thursday, October 12

7:30 am – Continental breakfast and registration/check-in

8:30 am – Welcome and introductory remarks

Jocelyn Hittle, Associate Vice Chancellor for the Spur Campus & Special Projects, Colorado State University System
Luis Benitez (emcee), Principal, Endeavor Consulting

9:00 am – Connecting the dots: How will U.S. federal initiatives support both biodiversity and climate targets?

Brenda Mallory, Chair, White House Council on Environmental Quality

9:15 am – America the Beautiful For All Coalition - A case study in keeping communities at the center of climate and biodiversity outcomes

Àngel Peña, Executive Director, Nuestra Tierra Conservation Project
Moderated by Teresa Martinez, Executive Director, Continental Divide Trail Coalition

9:45 am – Land use policy challenges our climate goals

Jeremy Hoffman, Director of Climate Justice and Impact, Groundwork USA

10:00 am – Break

10:20 am – Cooperation on conservation across North America: Priorities and outcomes from trilateral consensus

Jorge Daniel Taillant, Executive Director, Commission for Environmental Cooperation
Moderated by: Sylvain Fabi, Consul General of Canada in Denver

10:40 am – Meeting climate and nature goals in Mexico: Exploring challenges to meeting national targets

Alonso Martínez Caballero, National Coordinator, Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) Mexico

11:00 am – Why we need a national biodiversity strategy

Joe Neguse, U.S. Representative for Colorado's 2nd Congressional District

11:15 am – Reflecting on cooperative opportunities across North America

Sacha Spector, Program Director for the Environment, Doris Duke Foundation

12:00 pm – Lunch and networking

1:00 pm – Thematic breakout sessions

The goal of the thematic breakout sessions is to give you the opportunity to reflect on the information you've received throughout the Symposium and dive deeper into one area. This is a great opportunity for you to share your expertise with other attendees and presenters.

In each breakout session, a subject matter expert and facilitator will guide you through a series of questions. Your responses will be recorded and utilized by the Salazar Center to create post-Symposium resources for our network. So, no matter which thematic breakout session you choose, you will receive a synopsis of all the conversations!

Breakout topics:

The role of cities in a nature-positive future

Speakers: Jessica Montoya, Trust for Public Land; Cindy Chang, Groundwork Denver

Facilitator: Dr. Jeremy Hoffman, Groundwork USA

'Nature-positive communities' - scaling up for impact: a workshop with the Yellowstone to Yukon Initiative (Y2Y)

Facilitator: Patty Richards, Program Advisor, Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative

The role of private lands in a nature-positive future

Speakers: Dirk Rasmussen, Colorado Open Lands; Helen Silver, Ground Up Consulting; Brendan Boepple, Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust

Facilitator: Alex Hager, KUNC

Financing a nature-positive future through carbon and biodiversity markets

Speaker: Kevin Maddaford, TNC

Facilitator: Katie Deuel, Center for Large Landscape Conservation

The nexus between traditional ecological knowledge and nature-based solutions

Speaker: Gwen Bridge

Facilitator: James Calabaza, Trees, Water, People

2:45 pm – Break

3:00 pm – Breakout session recap and closing remarks

Luis Benitez (emcee), Principal, Endeavor Consulting

Download the Agenda

Thank you to our sponsors:

Return to Symposium homepage