Our Mentors

The Landscape Policy Accelerator works with dozens of experienced mentors to help the policymakers who are participating in the program. Meet them here: 

Mentors 2021

Dr. Jennifer Alix-García, Professor of applied economics at Oregon State University. She has worked on the evaluation of policies on forest conservation efforts in Mexico, Brazil, and globally. Jennifer received a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley's Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics. She has worked at the University of Montana, the University of San Francisco, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is now head of the Department of Applied Economics and Director of the Sustainability Double Degree program at Oregon State University.

Dr. Rosa Maria Alzamora, Professor and researcher in economics of the production and management of forests. She has developed cost-effectiveness studies and evaluations of forest incentives and forest projects in wood production, silvicultural technologies, genetic improvement, and valuation of goods and services in natural forests. Ramy is a forestry engineer with a PhD in Forest Economics from the University of Cantebury New Zealand.

Claudio Cabrera, Project Coordinator Trifinio Project, Expert in natural and agricultural resource policies. He supported the creation of the National Forest Incentives program in Guatemala in 1997 that promoted the restoration of 150,000 ha of land. He was also the first director of the National Forest Institute in Guatemala and vice minister of Agriculture and Natural Resources. He also collaborated with the implementation of a pilot program of forestry incentives in Nicaragua (2013-2017) and the development of a proposal for the regulation of forestry incentives of the Forestry and Protected Areas Law of Honduras. He is currently the International Technical Advisor of the Trifinio Fraternidad Transboundary Biosphere Reserve Protection Project (El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras).

Carolina Gonzalez Isla, is the Director of the Sustainable Innovation Unit of Chile’s Production Development Corporation’s (CORFO) at the Ministry of Economic Development. She has over 15 years of experience working on innovation and sustainability, and she has focused her efforts at CORFO on advancing triple bottom line impact through social innovation, circular economy initiatives, and impact investing. Carolina supports Chilean companies to incorporate innovative strategies that allow for increased revenue generation that contributes to the Chile’s economic growth and sustainable development. She has a degree in Geography from the Pontifica Catholic University of Chile and an MSc in Sustainable Development, Climate Change and Risk Management from the University of Exeter, UK.

María Inés Miranda has worked in sustainable development for more than 20 years, especially in rural sectors and linked to the forests and the communities that live there. Her work experiences have been developed in more than 25 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Europe with an emphasis on developing inclusive business models based on natural capital. She is the founder of Women´s Initiative for Sustainability and Empowerment (Wise Women Network) and Good Wood Ambassador for Latin America of the Eco Innovation Foundation, based in Sweden, initiative for the restoration of the world's forests. She has a degree in Forest Sciences from the University of Chile and a graduate of the Board of Women program that directs Women Entrepreneurs for the training of women for company boards.

Dr. Iliana Monterroso is an environmental scientist with the Equity, Gender, Justice & Tenures team. She is also the co-coordinator of Gender and Social Inclusion Research. She is part of the team that coordinates the implementation of the FTA strategy to strengthen partner organizations and CIFOR scientists to address gender and social inclusion across their research and ensure continuous learning and improvement. Iliana has a BSc in Biology and an MSc and PhD in Environmental Sciences. She has participated in global comparative studies that analyzed impacts of forest tenure reforms. Her research focuses on gender, tenure, collective rights, environmental governance and socio-environmental conflicts predominantly in Latin America.

Dr. Lina M. Moros is an Assistant Professor in sustainability at the School of Management, Universidad de los Andes- Bogotá, Colombia. Lina holds a PhD in Environmental Science and Technologies from Universidad Autònoma de Barcelona-ICTA (2016-2019), a Master of Science in Social Policy Research from London School of Economics (2013/2014), and a Master of Arts in Public Policy and a BA in Management both from Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá (2011/2012, 2004/2009). She is a specialist in Payments for Ecosystem Services and her research focuses on incentives for conservation in the global south, primarily in the intersection between incentives and pro-environmental motivations. She teaches behavioral sciences for sustainability, environmental sciences for decision makers and entrepreneurship, both at undergraduate and master level.

Dr. Guillermo Navarro, forest economist and policy expert with a recognized history of working with communities, governmental and non-governmental agencies, technical cooperation, donors, research and higher education institutions, and private forestry companies in Latin America. Recognized for his leadership and dexterity while operating in multidisciplinary environments and producing relevant information for scientific decision making at the national and international level. Extensive experience in monitoring and evaluation of processes, knowledge generation and technology transfer to different sectors of civil society, particularly those related to the use and conservation of natural resources.

Navarro is considered a specialist in agroforestry and natural resource economics, management and governance in the areas of education, applied research, technical cooperation and consulting services. Navarro has also worked and researched on the phenomena of illegal logging and trade, the challenges of competitiveness in forest land uses, and the knowledge of the causes and direct and indirect vectors of deforestation and forest degradation. In cooperation with the Forest Services of Mexico and Central America, it has worked on institutional strengthening to improve the legal environment of the forestry sector, ensuring legality and efficiency in forest management.

Dr. Juan Manuel Torres Rojo currently works in Economics, Center for Economic Research and Teaching (CIDE). Juan investigates in Bioeconomy, Biostatistics, Forest and Agricultural Economics. His current project is' Visible values of invisible values: the economy of ecosystem services in Mexico. Juan Manuel has a Ph.D. in Forest Economics and management from Oregon State University. He was director general of the National Forestry Commission of Mexico.

Roger Villalobos (Costa Rica) is a Senior Researcher within the Climate Action Unit in various countries in Latin America and the Academic Coordinator of the MSc in Management and Conservation of Tropical Forests and Biodiversity at CATIE, where he has worked since 1991. Roger is a researcher, educator, and provider of technical assistance in areas of genetic improvement and vegetable physiology; rural development; management of timber and non-timber goods; management, policy, and governance of forests; and is currently researching restoration of forest landscapes in Latin America.

He is the president of the Red Latinoamericana de Bosques Modelo and of the National Commission of Sustainable Forestry in Costa Rica, a member of the Sociedad Iberoamericana de Restauracion, and a Technical Advisor of Initiative 20x20. Roger is an Agronomist with a Master’s in Integrated Management of Natural Resources, with an emphasis on Management of Natural Tropical Forests at CATIE.

Key-notes

Dr. René Castro Salazar, a national of Costa Rica, holds a Doctorate in design with emphasis in Natural Resources, Policy and Environmental Economics, and a master’s degree in Public Administration, both awarded by Harvard University. In addition, he has a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the Universidad de Costa Rica. He was a professor in the fields of Natural Resources, Environmental Economics and Policy at the post-graduate INCAE Business School, Costa Rica. He also lectured at the Harvard Institute for International Development and was a Fellow of the Mossavar-Rahmani Centre for Business and Government, Harvard University. He also lectured in prestigious universities such Harvard, Tokyo, Yale, Zurich Tech, LSE, INCAE and several Latin American Universities. He was a Fellow of the Mossavar-Rahmani Centre for Business and Government, Harvard University.

Mr. Castro -Salazar has held ministerial positions in Costa Rica as Minister of National Resources, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Minister of Environment, Energy and Telecommunications between 1994 and 2014. In February 2016, Mr. Castro-Salazar was appointed Assistant Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Forestry Department (FO). By decision of the Council 164th FAO works now with a modular and flexible structure aiming to ensure efficiency, effectiveness, and cross-sectoral collaboration. Mr. Castro-Salazar is currently leading policy and strategy related to climate change, biodiversity, and environment.

Policy Dialogs

Dr. Jennifer Alix-García, Professor of applied economics at Oregon State University. She has worked on the evaluation of policies on forest conservation efforts in Mexico, Brazil, and globally. Jennifer received a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley's Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics. She has worked at the University of Montana, the University of San Francisco, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is now head of the Department of Applied Economics and Director of the Sustainability Double Degree program at Oregon State University.

Marie Duraisami is a manager with the Sustainable Landscapes and Restoration program of WRI India. She conducts restoration opportunities assessments at national and sub-national levels that can support flow of multiple ecosystem services and livelihood benefits for local communities. She engages closely with partners to build capacities for planning and monitoring landscape restoration.

Prior to joining WRI India, Marie worked as a consultant with the National Biodiversity Authority, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. There, she was involved in implementation of the Biodiversity Act, 2002, India’s commitments under the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Nagoya Protocol. She also has experience in carbon footprint analysis, with focus scope 3 emissions and sustainable supply chains. Marie holds an M.A. in politics and international relations from Keele University, UK and M.Sc. environmental science and engineering from College of Engineering Guindy, Anna University, Chennai.

Dr. David Kaimowitz is the Forest and Farm Facility Manager of the FAO. He brings to the position extensive experience as a manager, rural policy analyst, grant-maker, communications strategist, and fund-raiser, including extensive work with diverse forest and farm producer organizations and other grassroots rural groups. He previously directed the Ford Foundation’s global work on natural resources and climate change and served as Director General of the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR). He has also worked at the International Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture (IICA), International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR), and the Ministry of Agricultural Development and Agrarian Reform (MIDINRA) in Nicaragua.

Over his career he has focused on a diverse set of rural issues including, forest policies, Indigenous and small farm organizations and enterprises, climate change, agricultural technology, gender relations, and land tenure, among others. In his previous positions David has been based in Costa Rica, Indonesia, Mexico, Netherlands, and Nicaragua, and he has supervised activities and worked for short periods in dozens of countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. He is fluent in English and Spanish, has a working knowledge of Portuguese and French, and a basic understanding of Bahasa Indonesian and Miskito. David holds a PhD in agricultural economics from the University of Madison – Wisconsin and has authored or co-authored over 150 publications about rural issues.

WRI Mentors 2021

Luciana Alves is a specialist in Forest Restoration at WRI Brasil and works with topics related to forest restoration strategies and models, monitoring and governance structures. Luciana has been working with forest landscape restoration since 2004 and has worked in various sectors such as government, private companies and NGOs, mainly dedicated to monitoring restoration and, more recently, supporting the formulation of public policies, studies of priority areas and definition of models of restoration. Luciana is a forestry engineer, graduated from the Federal University of Lavras, with a master’s degree in Ecology Applied to Conservation and Management of Natural Resources.

Will Anderson is the communications lead for the Forests Program's Global Restoration Initiative, where he manages outreach for WRI's work on AFR100, the Land Accelerator, Initiative 20x20, TerraMatch, and monitoring techniques. He develops strategies and plans, builds partnerships, and manages the team's external communications.
Previously, Will worked as a journalist and editor in Baltimore. He earned a Bachelor's degree in Sociology and International Studies from Johns Hopkins University and a Master's degree in International Development with a focus on environmental studies from Sciences Po, a university in Paris, France.

Dr. Susan Chomba is the Director of Vital Landscapes for Africa at the World Resources Institute (WRI). She leads the institution’s work on Forests, Food systems and People which includes forest landscape restoration, sustainable agriculture/food systems and thriving rural livelihoods in Africa. Susan is a scientist with over 15 years of research and development experience in Africa. She previously led the Regreening Africa Programme at CIFOR-ICRAF, whose primary objective was to restore degraded lands by scaling up proven and cost-effective technologies and practices across eight countries in Africa: Rwanda, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Niger, Ghana, Mali, and Senegal. She has been instrumental in setting the agenda for landscape restoration through local, national and global platforms.

She is a member of the African Academy of Sciences (AAS) and an associate editor for political ecology for the international journal, Frontiers in Human Dynamics. She holds a PhD in forest governance from the university of Copenhagen, Denmark, a double MSc. In agricultural development and agroforestry from the university of Copenhagen and Bangor university respectively; and a BSc. In forestry from Moi university in Kenya.

Maggie Gonzalez is Ecological Economist and Research Analyst for Initiative 20x20.   Prior to joining WRI, Maggie worked on a wide range of social and environmental projects through an economic and environmental perspective. Most of her work focused on Mexico and Latin America, though she also studied abroad and held internships in Ghana during her B.S. in International Relations and Economics and carried out research on watersheds in the UK during her MSc in Ecological Economics. Her main areas of interest are water resources management and sustainable agriculture. She’s conducted market research on sustainable cocoa production and shea; researched the benefits of green infrastructure on water quality in a watershed in Mexico; restructured a business model for a water purification system in rural Chiapas; and contributed to Conservation International’s Water Forest project in Mexico City.

Mary Gronkiewicz is the Project Coordinator II with the Global Restoration Initiative in the Forests Program. She supports the project management team and is responsible for coordinating the online systems of the Global Restoration Initiative, providing logistical support for high-level events, and preparing grant reports.
Prior to joining WRI, Mary worked as the Academic Program Assistant at the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). She also interned with the U.S. Department of State at Embassy Malabo in Equatorial Guinea. Mary holds a B.A. in International Studies and Spanish from Johns Hopkins University. While at Hopkins, she spent time studying international relations at Sciences Po, Paris and Spanish language and culture in Salamanca, Spain. She speaks Spanish and conversational French.

Darby Levin is a GIS Analyst for the Global Restoration Initiative in the Forests department. She provides GIS and remote sensing research support for monitoring global forest restoration.
Darby recently graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with an M.S. in Applied Geosciences and a B.A. in Environmental Studies. Her thesis research focused on the drivers of vegetation recovery after wildfire in the Santa Monica Mountains in Southern California. Before joining WRI, she worked as a remote sensing intern with the NASA DEVELOP program and at NASA.

Mariana Oliveira is a is a project coordinator at WRI Brasil. In the Forests program, she supports project management and programmatic contents related to forest landscape restoration strategies. Mariana has a BSc degree in Geography from São Paulo State University (UNESP), an environmental management post-graduate course at University of São Paulo (USP), and the certification on Tropical Forest Landscapes: Conservation, Restoration & Sustainable Use from the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies.

Victoria Rachmaninoff is Policy Accelerator Research Analyst supporting Land Tenure and Social welfare issues in restoration. She worked in Washington, DC as a Project Manager for Moms Clean Air Force, a national non-profit focused on improving children’s health around the issues of air pollution, climate change, and toxic chemicals. She is pursuing a master’s in environmental policy From University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS).

Katie Reytar is a Research Associate in the Forests Program. Her expertise focuses on GIS spatial analysis, modeling, and data management to inform environmental policy and management decisions. She provides GIS support to projects across the Institute—primarily the Forest Program’s Global Restoration Initiative and the Center for Equitable Development’s Land and Resource Rights project. Additional areas of project work include Water Quality, Coastal Ecosystems (Reefs at Risk Revisited), and Agricultural Sustainability. Katie has a B.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Johns Hopkins University and a Master of Environmental Science and Management from the Bren School at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Jerin Tan is a Communications Coordinator with WRI's Global Restoration Initiative, where she supports work across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. She previously worked with the Institute's Governance and Core Communications teams.
Prior to WRI, Jerin was a Sustainability Intern under APL Logistics, where she conducted research to develop the firm's sustainability program. She has also spent time in Gunma, Japan, conducting surveys and social media campaigns to encourage tourism to rural areas of the country.

María Teresa Tattersfield Yarza is the forest carbon Manager of WRI Mexico, responsible to coordinate the execution of CO2munitario (forest carbon capture). She is a specialist in the design and development of methodologies and protocols that have been implemented in Mexico with great success in the sale of offsets in the international market. he has also coordinated cooperation projects for Mexico in the field of rural training with different international organizations and institutions such as the CEC, USAID, UNDP, etc., and has had the opportunity to participate in several publications of the same. Teresa is an expert in project execution and evaluation, with extensive experience in the federal government, non-governmental organizations, international organizations and academia. She holds a degree in International Relations with a Master's Degree in Environmental Policy and Management, Specialization in Sustainable Development (LEAD program from the Colegio de México) and Energy Efficiency and Environment at FLACSO.

Javier Warman is the Forest Director at WRI Mexico. He is responsible for bringing the global experience to the national arena, supporting actions and policies for the sustainable use and conservation of the country's natural resources.

He has a trajectory of more than 20 years working in environmental issues, mostly as a public servant in Mexico's Federal Government. He has been General Director for Planning and Evaluation at the Ministry of Environment, Deputy General Director at Financiera Rural and General Director for Prospective Analysis at the Ministry of Social Development. He holds a BA in International Relations from the Universidad Iberoamericana, MPhil in Environment and Development from University of Cambridge and Doctorate Studies from University of Sussex.

Dr. René Zamora Cristales, Rene Zamora Cristales is Guatemalan and Senior Forest Economist for the Global Restoration Initiative of WRI's Food, Forest, and Water Program. He works directly for Initiative 20x20, a country-led effort aiming to bring 50 million hectares of degraded land in Latin America and the Caribbean into restoration by 2030. He is a co-author of the current World Resources Reports, The Road to Restoration, and Roots for Prosperity: the Economics and Finance of Restoring Land and lead author on The Sustainability Index for Landscape Restoration. Rene holds a B.S. degree in Forest Engineering from Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, a Master of Science degree in Forest Resources with an emphasis in Forest Economics and Wood Products from Universidad Austral de Chile and Doctoral degree (Ph.D.) in Forest Engineering from Oregon State University, USA with an emphasis in Operations Research. In 2019 the board of the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) awarded René with the Global Outstanding Doctoral Research Award in recognition of his outstanding individual scientific achievements and to encourage further work within the fields of forest research.