Catherine Burns
Managing Director, Impact Management, NatureVest
Santa Cruz, California
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Areas of Expertise
Environmental science, freshwater conservation
Biography
Dr. Catherine (Cat) Burns leads the efforts to bring TNC’s expertise in conservation science and practice to inform institutional investment partnerships focused on forestry, agriculture, and tourism investments—aimed at delivering conservation impact alongside returns.
Cat directs the Impact Management team, with the following key objectives:
Cat is currently focused on establishing direction for the team and building out the team to meet new programmatic needs.
Two key focus areas are:
Cat joined TNC in 2010 and previously served as the Senior Conservation Director for NatureVest, leading a team focused on providing conservation science to inform TNC’s investment partnerships to maximize conservation impact. Cat also served as Associate Director of TNC California’s Water Program, and as the Director of Science for TNC’s North Carolina Chapter.
Prior to joining TNC, Cat held Ecology faculty positions at Duke University and the University of Maine.
Cat has lived and worked doing conservation on four continents, including North and South America, Africa and Australia
Education and Designations:
Publications and Media:
Conservation research: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Ecology, Biodiversity and Conservation, and other scientific journals.
Content
Impact Management: From Intentions to Outcomes
Read Cat's insights in this LinkedIn article: Feb 2024. Here Cat shares some of the lessons learned about what works (and what doesn’t) as NatureVest strives to demonstrate that conservation impact can be achieved alongside financial returns.