Doreen, from the United States of America, is a conservation ecologist by training with over twenty five years of experience. She is the Chief for Wildlife at UN Environment Programme based in Nairobi Kenya. She is a systems thinker driven by passion and a desire to connect people to find solutions to the world’s most complex environment and development challenges.
Prior to joining the UN team, Doreen served as the Regional Chief for Environment with the United States Agency for International Development in Pretoria, South Africa. She led programs on transboundary ecosystem management, combating wildlife crime, water supply and sanitation, water resource management, climate and energy in 14 countries. Doreen also worked for the United States Agency for International Development in Madagascar directing programs in biodiversity, agriculture, rural development and disaster management. In Washington DC, Doreen led policy and program development for global biodiversity conservation, promoting collaborative solutions, good governance and participatory approaches to protected area conservation, natural resource management and benefit sharing with local communities.
Doreen worked for the World Wildlife Fund and other environmental organizations spanning a range of locations including the Amazon, Atlantic Rainforests of South America, the Alps in Europe, the Coral Triangle in Asia and the Congo Basin. She began her career working with rural communities in Morocco.
She holds a MSc degree from the University of Maryland and a BSc from Cornell University.