In 2017, thought leaders, practitioners, pioneering scientists and researchers, environmentalists, artists, civic leaders, industry participants, media, philanthropists, and other conservation-minded citizens gathered for the inaugural Earth Optimism Summit.
The summit welcomed discussion focused on solutions in conservation—what are the best minds, boldest experiments, and most innovative community practices telling us about how to preserve biodiversity, protect natural resources, and address climate change?
Speakers
Octavio Aburto – Scripps Institution of Oceanography; International League of Conservation Photographers
Brad Ack – World Wildlife Fund
Yao Afantchao – University of DC
Beth Allgood – US Country Director for the International Fund for Animal Welfare
Hon. Sydney Allicock – Honorable Minister of Indigenous Peoples Affairs, Guyana
Teddy Ammon – Teens Dream Co-creator and Teen Adviser to the Global Colab Network
Ross Andersen – Senior Editor at The Atlantic
Allison Archambault – EarthSpark International
Nygiel Armada – Chief of Party of the Ecosystems Improved for Sustainable Fisheries (ECOFISH) Project
David Auerbach – Sanergy
Kara Ball – ecoAmerica
Leah Barclay – Australian Forum for Acoustic Ecology
John Beardsley – Director of Garden and Landscape Studies at Dumbarton Oaks
Timothy Beatley – Founder and Director, Biophilic Cities
Philippe Benoit – Global Infrastructure Advisory Services 2050
Joel Berger – Senior Scientist at Wildlife Conservation Society
Dr. Birute – Robot Orangutan, Spy for Nature
Omaira Bolaños – Director, Latin America Program, Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI)
Latif Boru – Member of Norther Rangelands Trust
Mark Bouman – Chicago Region Program Director in the Keller Science Action Center of the Division of Science and Education at The Field Museum
Muriel Bowser – Mayor of Washington DC
Steve Box – Tracking artisanal fishing, Rare
Paul Bunje – Chief Scientist at XPRIZE Foundation
Rhett Butler – Founder & CEO, Mongabay
Tom Butler – Vice President of the Tompkins Conservation Family of Foundations; President, Northeast Wilderness Trust
Nora Bynum – Rowe Family Director, Keller Science Action Center at The Field Museum
Rachel Bynum – Co-owner/Manager, Waterpenny Farm
Qing Cao – Princeton University
Felipe Carazo – Executive Director, Fundecor
Alison Carlson – Founder and President, Forsythia Foundation
Kerry Cesareo – VP, Forests, WWF
Ann Mei Chang – Former Chief Innovation Officer, USAID
Kate Christen – Training Manager, Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation (SMSC), Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI)
Jamie Rappaport Clark – President & CEO, Defenders of Wildlife
Jacqueline Claudia – CEO & Co-founder, LoveTheWild
Leslie Cockburn – Writer, Producer, Filmmaker
Edwin (Todd) Cowen – Kathy Dwyer Marble and Curt Marble Faculty Director of Energy at the Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future at Cornell University
David Crane – Senior Operating Executive, Pegasus Capital Advisors
Trammell S. Crow – Founder of Earth Day Texas; President of the Crow Family Foundation
Gretchen Daily – Stanford; Co-Director, The Natural Capital Project; Winner, Cosmos Prize
Crystal Davis – Director of Global Forest Watch
Alex Dehgan – CEO & Co-Founder, Conservation X Labs
Kelley Dennings – President of the Social Marketing Association of North America
Brandon Dennison – Exec. Director, Coalfield Development Corp.
Matthew Dillon – Director of Agricultural Policy and Programs, Clif Bar & Company
Eric Dinerstein – Director, WildTech
Bill Drayton – Founder & CEO, Ashoka: Innovators for the Public
Johanan Dujon – President, Algas Organics
Amtchat Edwards – US Forest Service
Paula Ehrlich – President & CEO, E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation
Kelsey Evezich – Conservation Technology Project Lead, Duke University
Peter Fearnhead – CEO African Parks
David Festa – Senior Vice President, Environmental Defense Fund
Carolyn Finney – Professor and Author, Black Faces, White Spaces
Murray Fisher – President, New York Harbor Foundation; Billion Oyster Project
Shonda Gilliland Foster – Program Director, David H. Smith Conservation Research Fellowship
Melissa Garren – Chief Scientific Officer, Pelagic Data Systems
Sean Gerrity – CEO American Prairie Reserve and National Geographic Explorer
Johnny Gibbons – Smithsonian
Kristin Gilliss – Mulago Foundation
Kathleen Gobush – Senior Program Officer and Wildlife Biologist, Vulcan
Barry Gold – Environment Program Director, Walton Family Foundation
Ron Gonen – CEO and Co-founder, Closed Loop Fund
Brian Gratwicke – Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute
Tremaine Gregory – Conservation Biologist, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute
Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson – Former President of Iceland
David Grinspoon – Astrobiologist and Author of The Earth in Human Hands
Rachel Gross – Digital Science Editor, Smithsonian Magazine
Alexis Gutierrez – NOAA
Jeanne Haffner – Dumbarton Oaks
Mary Hagedorn – Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute
Jefferson Hall – Director, Agua Salud Project, Staff Scientist Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Alasdair Harris – Executive Director of Blue Ventures
Autumn-Lynn Harrison – Research Ecologist, Migratory Bird Center, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute
Drew Harvell – Ocean Health Expert at Cornell University; Author of A Sea of Glass
Denis Hayes – Founder, Earth Day Network; CEO, Bullitt Foundation
Leela Hazzah – CNN Hero; Co-Founder of Lion Guardians
Michael Healy – CEO, New Columbia Solar
Laura Helmuth – Editor for Health, Science, and Environment, The Washington Post
Ginette Hemley – Senior Vice President, WWF
Pamela Henson – Historian, Smithsonian Archives
Davida Herzl – CEO & Founder, Aclima
Oran Hesterman – President and CEO of Fair Food Network
Nigella Hillgarth – New England Aquarium
Anson “Tuck” Hines – Director, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
John Hoffman – Discovery Channel
Kali Holder – Morris Animal Foundation Global Health Fellow with Smithsonian’s Global Health Program
Jeff Holland – Riverkeeper, West and Rhode Rivers
Marshall Iliff – eBird, Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Bob Irvin – President & CEO, American Rivers
Naoko Ishii – CEO and Chairperson for the Global Environment Facility (GEF)
Jeremy Jackson – Senior Scientist, Smithsonian
Jenna Jambeck – Creator of Marine Debris Tracker; College of Engineering at the University of Georgia (UGA)
Dan Janzen – Co-founder, Area de Conservacion Guanacaste
Nilanga Jayasinghe – Senior Program Officer – Asian Species, World Wildlife Fund
JAYO – Rap Artist and Ambassador, Teens Dream
Brett Jenks – CEO of Rare
Amy Johnson – Smithsonian
Ayana Elizabeth Johnson – Founder and CEO, Ocean Collective
Kirk Johnson – Sant Director, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian
Philip Karp – Lead Knowledge Management Specialist at the World Bank
John Kasaona – Poachers as Protectors, Namibia Integrated Rural Development & Nature Conservancies
Kef Kasdin – Board Chair, Rachel’s Network; founding General Partner of Battelle Ventures
Laure Katz – Senior Director, Connected Oceans Program, Conservation International
Roland Kays – North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and NC State University
Dennis Kelly – Director, Smithsonian National Zoo
Elin Kelsey – Co-Creator of #OceanOptimism; Author of We Are Stardust
Anastasia Khoo – Chief Marketing Officer for Conservation International
Jeff Kirschner – Founder of Litterati; TED resident
David Kline – Coral Reef Ecologist, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Gary E. Knell – President and CEO of the National Geographic Society
Nancy Knowlton – Sant Chair of Marine Science, Smithsonian
John Kress – Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
Gary Krupnick – Research Scientist, Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History
Robert Kunzig – Senior Environment Editor at National Geographic Magazine
Bill Kurtis – Host, producer, news anchor; Voice of Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me; Founder of Tallgrass Beef Company
Matthew C. Larsen – Director, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Michelle LaRue – Research Ecologist and Public Speaker at the University of Minnesota,
Frederic Launay – Mohamed Bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund
William Laurance – Distinguished Research Professor and Australian Laureate at James Cook University in Cairns
Allison Leidner – Senior Support Scientist, NASA Earth Science Division/ Arctic Slope Technical Services
Peter Leimgruber – Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute
Elaine Leslie – National Park Service
Jonathan Lilley – National Education Coordinator for the National Sea Grant College Program
Maya Lin – Artist and Environmentalist, Founder, What is Missing? and GREENPRINT
David Lodge – Director, Cornell’s Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future
Jessica Long – Managing Director, Accenture
Thomas Lovejoy – University Professor George Mason University and Senior Fellow United Nations Foundation
Jayde Lovell – Host of SciQ, Young Turks Network
Jane Lubchenco – Oregon State University, Former Under Secretary of Commerce for NOAA
Mike Mace – Curator of Birds, San Diego Zoo Safari Park
Krishna Makineni – Graduate Student, Conservation Science and Public Policy Program, George Mason University
Kurt Mann – Executive Producer for the NOAA/Smithsonian Ocean Today Program
Paul Marinari – Senior Curator, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute
Pete Marra – Center Head, Migratory Bird Center, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute
Barbara Martinez – Open Innovation Director for Conservation X Labs
Javier Mateo-Vega – Research Fellow, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
William McDonough – Founder of William McDonough + Partners, Architects
Melanie McField – Director, Healthy Reefs for Healthy People Initiative, Smithsonian Institution
Kevin McGovern – Chairman and CEO, McGovern Capital & The Water Initiative
Winsome McIntosh – President of The McIntosh Foundation
Douglas McKenzie-Mohr – Science of community-based social marketing
Paul McMahon – Managing Partner, SLM Partners
John McMurdy – Director of Emerging Markets, CropLife International
Bill McShea – eMammal, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute
Chris Miller – President, The Piedmont Environmental Council
Eric Miller – Executive Director, Saint Louis Zoo’s WildCare Institute
Gregory Miller – President & CEO, NatureServe
James Miller – Conserving plants for people, Missouri Botanical Garden
Ben Mirin – Wildlife DJ
Tom Mitchell – Cambridge Associates
Steven Monfort – John and Adrienne Mars Director, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute; Deputy Director, Smithsonian’s National Zoo
Margarita Mora – Conservation Stewards Program at Conservation International
Jeff Moyer – Executive Director, Rodale Institute
Jennifer Nagashima – Smithsonian Institution Postdoctoral Fellow
Fred Nelson – Founder and Executive Director of Maliasili Initiatives
Zoe Nyssa – Cultural Anthropologist
Margaret O’Gorman – President, Wildlife Habitat Council
Joanna Ogburn – Consultant, Expert in building multi-stakeholder collaboration
Matthew Ogburn – Marine Ecologist, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
Randy Olson – author, “Houston, We Have A Narrative”; Prairie Starfish Productions
Peggy Olwell – Plant Conservation Program Lead for the Bureau of Land Management; Founder of Native Plant Materials Development Program
Hank Oppenheimer – Maui Nui Coordinator for the Plant Extinction Prevention Program
Chris Palmer – Distinguished Film Producer in Residence, American University
Stephen Palumbi – Director, Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford; Author, Life and Death of Monterey Bay
Kyung-Ah Park – Managing Director, Head of Environmental Markets, Goldman Sachs
John Parker – Senior Scientist and Research Ecologist at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
Ana Luz Porzecanski – Director, Center for Biodiversity and Conservation, American Museum of Natural History
Nora Pouillon – Initiator of FRESHFARM Markets; Champion of Organic, Environmentally Conscious Cuisine
James Prosek – Painter; Founder of World Trout
Nick Pyenson – Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History
Kristin Rechberger – CEO, Dynamic Planet
Sarah Redmond – entrepreneur, innovator, and seaweed farmer, Sorrento Seaweed
Clarissa Redwine – Design and Technology Outreach Lead, Kickstarter
Andrew Revkin – Senior Reporter, Pro Publica
Damon Rich – Partner, Hector urban design, planning & civic arts
Rick Ridgeway – Patagonia’s Vice President of Public Engagement
Jon Paul Rodríguez – Chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission; Professor at the Center for Ecology of the Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Investigations; Founder and President of Provita
Erin Rogers – Program Officer in the Hewlett Foundation’s Environment Program
Kathleen Rogers – President of Earth Day Network
David Rosenberg – CEO and Co-founder of AeroFarms
Dale Ross – Mayor of Georgetown, Texas
Debra Rowe – President, U.S. Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development
David M. Rubenstein – Chair, Smithsonian Board of Regents
Daniel Runde – Center for Strategic and International Studies
Brooke Runnette – Executive Vice President, National Geographic Society
Enric Sala – National Geographic Explorer; Founder of Pristine Seas
Jean Pierre Santos – Instituto Pro-Carnivoros
Andrea Santy – Director, Russell E. Train Education for Nature Program (EFN), World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
Ted Schmitt – Senior Program Manager, Vulcan
Simran Sethi – Journalist and Educator: Author of Bread, Wine, Chocolate
Afroz Shah – World’s Largest Beach Clean-Up; 2016 UNEP Champion of the Earth
Jigar Shah – President & Co-Founder of Generate Capital; Founder & CEO of SunEdison
Justin Shaifer – Creator of Fascinate
Brendan Shane – C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group
Howard-Yana Shapiro – Mars Advanced Research Institute Fellow
David Shaw – Black Point Group LP
Deirdre Shelly – 350.org
Fern Shepard – President, Rachel’s Network
Daniel Sherrard – Provost, Earth University, Costa Rica
Debra Shier – Brown Endowed Associate Director of Recovery Ecology at the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research
Scott Sklar – President, The Stella Group
David J. Skorton – Secretary, Smithsonian Institution
Erik Solheim – Executive Director; UN Environment Program
Melissa Songer – Conservation Ecologist, Conservation Ecology Center, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute
Sean Southey – PCI Media
International Space Station – Crew
Marty Spitzer – Senior Director, Climate and Renewable Energy, World Wildlife Fund
Linda Staheli – Founding Director of the Global Co Lab Network
Ricardo Stanoss – Academic Program Manager, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute
Robert Stanton – Former Director of the National Park Service
Joe Starinchak – USFWS
Bob Steneck – University of Maine
Eleanor Jane Sterling – Chief Conservation Scientist, Center for Biodiversity and Conservation, American Museum of Natural History
Phyllis Stiles – Founder/director of Bee City USA® and Bee Campus USA
Ruth Anna Stolk – Founding Executive Director, Smithsonian Conservation Commons
Suzanne Asha Stone – Co-founder of the Wood River Wolf Project and Senior Northwest Representative for Defenders of Wildlife
Tristram Stuart – Founder, Feedback and Toast Ale Ltd.
Terry Sunderland – Principal Scientist, Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR)
Ron Swaisgood – San Diego Zoo Global
Pablo Taborga – PERU LNG
Doug Tallamy – Restoring Native Plant Communities; Author of Bringing Nature Home
Trey Taylor – Co-Founder & Director, Verdant Power
Joshua Tewksbury – Future Earth Global Hub Director, Colorado and Executive Editor of Anthropocene Innovation in the Human Age
Raquel Thomas – Director of Resource Management and Training at the Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation and Development
Mike Trizna – Technical Lead, DNA Barcode of Wildlife Project, Smithsonian
Sebastian Troeng – Senior Vice President, Americas Field Division, Conservation International
Juli Trtanj – One Health and Integrated Climate and Weather Extremes Research Lead, NOAA
Ann Tutwiler – Director General, Bioversity International
Elaine Ulrich – SunShot Program Manager, Department of Energy
Steven VanRoekel – Maker, Investor, Philanthropist
Ali Velshi – MSNBC Anchor and Business Correspondent for NBC News and MSNBC
Diogo Veríssimo – David H. Smith Conservation Research Fellow; Society for Conservation Biology
Marilyn Waite – Energy Lead, Village Capital Author, Sustainability at Work
Lauren Ward – Digital Producer and Science Writer for the Ocean Portal at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
Ed Warner – Sand County Foundation
Sam Wasser – Director, Conservation Biology, University of Washington
Kinari Webb – Founder of Health In Harmony
Jeff Weiss – Distributed Sun
John Weller – Antarctic Photographer; Co-Founder of The Last Ocean Project
Dennis Whigham – Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
Patricia Wright – MacArthur Fellow, Madagascar Conservationist, SUNY Stony Brook
Ed Yong – Journalist, The Atlantic
Dawn Zimmerman – Smithsonian’s Global Health Program