California

Rebecca Shaw, Ph.D.
Director of Conservation Science, The Nature Conservancy of California

Shaw is the lead scientist for the Natural Capital Project’s Sierra Nevada demonstration site. She has also played a key role in launching the Natural Capital Project team developing new mapping and modeling approaches. At TNC, Shaw manages an interdisciplinary group of scientists and technical experts that is working to incorporate the best available scientific information into the full array of TNC programs. Prior to joining TNC, Shaw conducted research at the Department of Global Ecology on the impacts of global change on ecosystems processes and biodiversity. The results of her research have been published in leading academic journals including Science and Nature. She received her M.A. in environmental policy and her PhD in energy and resources from the University of California at Berkeley. >>Meet the rest of the Sierra Nevada site team

China

Christine Tam
Natural Capital Project Director

Tam is the main go-between for TNC, WWF, and Stanford staff. She also coordinates communication among demonstration sites in California, China, Hawaii, and Tanzania, developing project priorities and strategies. In addition, she is the lead scientist for the Natural Capital Project’s China demonstration site. Tam comes from TNC, where she served as Deputy Director of Conservation Programs in China. This followed four years in TNC’s California program, guiding conservation planning throughout the state. Her interests include community-based conservation, natural resource management and capacity building, and conservation planning. She received her B.A. in Biology from Harvard University, and her M.S. in Resource Ecology and Management from the University of Michigan. >>Meet the rest of the China site team

Hawai'i

Gretchen Daily, Ph.D.
Professor of Biological Sciences
Senior Fellow, Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University

Daily, an ecologist whose work ranges from conservation science to environmental policy analysis to public outreach, is one of three founders of the Natural Capital Project and serves as its chief emissary to financial and government leaders. She is working to develop a scientific basis - and political and institutional support - for managing Earth's life-support systems. Daily has published more than 150 scientific and popular articles. Her most recent book is “The New Economy of Nature: The Quest to Make Conservation Profitable,” coauthored with journalist Katherine Ellison (2002, Island Press). She serves on the boards of The Nature Conservancy and the Beijer International Institute for Ecological Economics, and at Stanford she is Director of the Center for Conservation Biology. >>Meet the rest of the Hawai'i site team

Tanzania

Taylor Ricketts, Ph.D.
Director of Conservation Science, World Wildlife Fund

Natural Capital Project co-founder Ricketts is the project’s liaison with World Wildlife Fund, and, like Kareiva, provides strategic guidance. His interests span a broad range of topics in ecology and conservation biology, from global analyses of biodiversity patterns to field studies on the ecological and economic effects of land-use change. Ricketts led WWF’s conservation assessment of North American eco-regions, the first in a continuing series published by Island Press. Ricketts’ current research focuses on the agricultural value of wild pollinators and their habitats, and on mapping the economic costs and benefits of conservation. He received his Ph.D. from Stanford University and has been recognized with awards from the Society for Conservation Biology, the National Science Foundation, the Summit Foundation, and others. >>Meet the rest of the Tanzania site team