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Former members of the ONet facilitation team
ONet was established and has been supported by a large number of people who volunteered their time and efforts to help the network grow. We gratefully acknowledge their contributions.
Former members of the ONet facilitation team are listed below: in alphabetical order of their last names, including their biographies at the time of their service.
Håkon Aspøy
Oslo, Norway
Håkon is a research fellow at the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research. He is currently working on a PhD in sociology with the University of Oslo. His dissertation focuses on conflicting interests and knowledges in Norwegian forest management. His research interests include power relations, conflict, land use changes, loss of nature and climate change. Håkon is a representative of the SSH Network within the ONet Facilitation Team.
Roslyn Chao
Ohio, USA
Roslyn holds an Executive MBA from Weatherhead School of Management and a Juris Doctor from Case Western Reserve University School of Law. Her professional career has focused on creating access to education, the arts, and healthcare for at-risk populations; creating sustainable, climate-resilient risk plans for organizations; and designing circular economy strategies, training and programs, and waste-reduction events for nonprofit organizations and businesses. Roslyn is the Principal for Insight + Redesign Consulting and has served as a panelist on sustainability at conferences, advising how large-scale festivals can reduce waste and create zero-waste events. She also hosts monthly Zoom discussions with experts, connecting climate change and preservation of biodiversity to public health, environmental justice, waste, ocean preservation, and transitions toward clean energy systems.
Dr Serena Dool
Montpellier, France
Serena holds a PhD in zoology from University College Dublin (Ireland) and has more than 15 years of experience working in Ireland, UK, South Africa, Germany and France on issues related to species diversity and conservation. She is currently working at INRAE-CBGP as a Marie Curie postdoctoral fellow to develop a novel method for assessing biodiversity and ecosystem health using non-invasive genetics. Outside of work, she actively participates in local conservation and citizen science projects. Serena is optimistic that there is still time to halt biodiversity loss and is a firm believer in the impact of individual actions.
Dr Paula Drummond
Campinas, Brazil
Paula is interested in science-society interface, for example science and technology policy, impact evaluation, innovation policy and science communication. She is a biologist and a specialist in science journalism, and holds a PhD in Science and Technology Policy (University of Campinas, Brazil). Paula is currently part of the coordination group of the Brazilian Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services - BPBES, a non-governmental and research-based initiative which supports decision makers in Brazil. She believes that communication is a powerful tool for transformative change.
Sonigitu Ekpe
Calabar, Nigeria
Sonigitu is a Nigerian with over 28 years work experience with government, civil society, private sector and has served as a National Consultant to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. He has studied Environmental Governance at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva, Switzerland, and Agrobiodiversity in a Changing Climate at Sapienza Universita Di Roma, Rome, Italy. He is a Laudato Si’ Animator of the Global Climate Movement, an advocate of Open Data Initiatives and Wetlands sustainable management. His background spans diverse fields in the natural sciences. He serves as a member of the Global Innovation Panel, National Focal Point for IUCN-WCPA-Nigeria, Coordinator of IUCN-WCPA Mountain Specialist Group for West and Central Africa, and serves for Cross River State Government, an Observer at IPBES.
Miguel Fernandez
Leipzig, Germany
Miguel works at the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, advancing the framework concept of Essential Biodiversity Variables and supporting the implementation of the Europa Biodiversity Observation Network. A native of Bolivia, he has a multidisciplinary background that includes ecology, geography and environmental systems. Miguel has successfully executed initiatives to leverage the nexus between environmental science toward policy and decision making in Latin America, the U.S., and Europe for the last 12 years. His career has focused on the emerging science of global biodiversity change where he has crossed disciplinary boundaries to produce actionable information on the state and trends of the planetary living system.
Paola Fontanella Pisa
Bolzano, Italy
Paola supports the ONet Facilitation Team in coordinating and facilitating communications with its partner network, the Young Ecosystem Services Specialists (YESS). The YESS Network has been an ONet member since IPBES 7 in 2018 and has ever since worked to strengthen synergies for better engagement of youth in the science-policy interface towards sustainable development. Working as Programme Associate for the Global Mountain Safeguard Research programme at the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS), Paola’s interest lies specifically in the link between ecosystem services and culture in social-ecological systems.
Dr Paulina G. Karimova
Hualien, Taiwan
Paulina G. Karimova 孫夏天 holds a PhD in Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences. She is a post-doctoral researcher at the Landscape Conservation and Community Participation laboratory, College of Environmental Studies and Oceanography, National Dong Hwa University (NDHU), Taiwan. Her research interests include integrated landscape and seascape approaches, adaptive co-management of protected areas and OECMs, facilitation of multi-stakeholder platforms, and community-based monitoring and evaluation. She is a fellow for the IPBES Nexus Assessment. Paulina is passionate about revitalisation of Taiwan’s rural areas and is actively engaged in the nationwide promotion of the Taiwan Partnership for the Satoyama Initiative (TPSI). Together with her research partner dog Beibei Sun, she believes that living in harmony with Nature comes from within our hearts – from our deepest appreciation and joy for Life in all of its forms and sizes. Paulina served as a representative of the SSH Network in the ONet facilitation team.
Dr Flore Lafaye de Micheaux
Lausanne, Switzerland
Flore has worked in France, India, Ethiopia and Switzerland for the last 20+ years, dealing with sustainable development, environmental policy and the science-policy interface in local, national and international contexts. She holds a PhD in political ecology from University of Lausanne (Switzerland) and her academic activities concer water, particularly human-river relations. She is currently IPBES coordinator at IUCN Headquarters to strengthen the IUCN-IPBES strategic partnership; she also supports the IPBES Secretariat with stakeholder engagement. Flore strongly believes in collective intelligence and action.
Teina Mackenzie
Rarotonga, Cook Islands
Teina is a Proud Cook Islander and modern-day traditional voyager, literally and figuratively. She holds the position of President of the longest-serving environmental organization in the Cook Islands – Te Ipukarea Society (TIS) – which is a member of both IUCN and BirdLife International. She’s member of the national Marae Moana Council, the GEF-SGP steering committee and Rarotonga Environment Authority. She’s also involved with Pacific organizations with a focus on Ocean conservation, natural resources use, traditional knowledge and sustainable sea transportation. At international level, Teina is currently part of the Motions Working Group for IUCN 2020 and holds the role of UNESCO Communications Commissioner for the Cook Islands. She has a keen interest in escalating youth into decision-making and believes future solutions for the earth require sound knowledge of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Kia Orana!
Dr Simone Maynard
Queensland, Australia
Simone (Lead, IUCN CEM Ecosystem Services Thematic Group) is an applied multidisciplinary researcher working at the interface of environment/economy/society, specifically ‘ecosystem services’, i.e., the positive contributions of nature to human well-being. Based in Australia, she works globally with diverse stakeholders to achieve development and conservation objectives that address societal challenges. Her strengths are social science methods which she uses to collect, develop and integrate diverse forms of knowledge and data into ecosystem service assessment tools, for use in land-use planning and natural asset management at local to global scales. Dr Maynard's work has won awards, and she has contributed to numerous books and peer reviewed publications. Dr Maynard contributed to the scoping of IPBES Regional Assessments, as well, e.g. the Asia Pacific Assessment. She has also facilitated two Stakeholder Days prior to IPBES Plenaries, and the joint IUCN and IPBES workshop at the IUCN World Conservation Congress 2016.
Ismael Ocen
Karamoja, Uganda
Ismael Ocen is a multi-skilled social researcher and development worker with 11 years' experience & skills in Indigenous Knowledge development and training, Climate Change, Ecosystem Management and Restoration. Ismael has developed skills and experience in leading local communities to advocate for protection of environment and to implement land use strategies for conserving species and important habitats, in order to maintain sustainable livelihoods and economic growth. Ismael is also involved in building synergies on both the market integration and the subsistence economy of pastoralism, through incentives and regulations. These actions ensure greater benefit flows from wildlife conservation and offer diversification options to the communities. Ismael’s work aims to encourage the sustainable use of natural resources and to ensure social and economic security of dryland pastoralists.
Dr Pranab J Patar
New Delhi, India
Pranab is an environment and sustainability professional with 20 years of experience. He has worked with leading national and global organisations. Pranab is Chief Executive of the New Delhi based non-profit Global Foundation for Advancement of Environment and Human Wellness. He has also been a member of several prestigious fora including Government appointed committees, IUCN Commissions and other national bodies. His work on ICT for Environment went on to win many awards regionally and nationally.
Shivani Rai
Bonn, Germany
Shivani Rai is a Capacity Development Consultant with the UN Volunteers (UNV) Programme in Germany, with experience in Natural Resource Management, Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation. She strives to promote youth engagement and has therefore been coordinating and facilitating communications between the early career researchers of Young Ecosystem Services Specialists (YESS) and ONet.
Sunandan Tiwari
Bonn, Germany
Sunandan is Director, Global Implementation at ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability. He leads the implementation of ICLEI’s global projects and coordinates joint fund-raising at the regional and global scale, fostering collaborations among ICLEI’s offices and partners. He provides strategic guidance on circular development and sustainable mobility, as well as on general program, organizational, and partnership development. Sunandan is a trained ecologist with extensive experience in urban resilience planning and financing, biodiversity management, urban-rural dynamics, and a spectrum of other sectors in the rural domain.
Elaina Jacqulene Wiljanen Weber
Trondheim, Norway
Elaina is a PhD candidate in the Department of Geography at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. She represents Young ES Specialists (YESS) on the ONet facilitation team.