Earthmind | Associates

Associates

Earthmind’s Senior Associates are sustainability professionals with a broad range of qualifications and experiences as described below. We work on a contractual or volunteer basis, as appropriate, to deliver Earthmind’s activities.

Francis Vorhies

Francis is the Founder and Executive Director of Earthmind. He has over 20 years of international experience as a sustainability economist. In 2006, he followed his wife’s career back to Geneva, Switzerland, and set up Earthmind as a not-for-profit professional sustainability association. Since then he has worked on a variety of sustainability assignments primarily related to the interface between business, the economy and biodiversity. Previous experience includes:

in Oxford, serving as the chief executive officer of the European affiliate of the Earthwatch Institute, managing a unique partnership programme with a group of 40 large multinational corporations
in Geneva, establishing new global programmes on economics and business for IUCN, including undertaking joint feasibility studies with the IFC on investing in biodiversity business in Africa and Central Europe
in Nairobi, working for the African Wildlife Foundation under a UNDP/GEF grant to build biodiversity economics capacity in the forestry sector in East Africa
in Johannesburg, setting up Eco Plus, an innovative consultancy focused on business, economics and the environment, and also ran the first MBA course in the country on environmental management

Francis has a PhD and MA in Economics from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a diploma in integrated environmental management from the University of Cape Town.

Christine Carey

Christine’s work links conservation and development with corporate responsibility. She provides advisory, research and evaluation services that focus on understanding, developing, and promoting voluntary environmental and social standards systems. She has proven experience across forestry, marine, fair trade, and agricultural sectors.

Over the past few years she has led an international project examining governmental use of voluntary standards across 10 countries with the ISEAL Alliance. She has worked as Advisor with the International Trade Centre (Geneva) – the UN technical cooperation agency of the WTO and UNCTAD on a partnership-based effort to enhance transparency and availability of voluntary standards.

In 2010, Christine worked with WWF International evaluating impacts of eight multi-stakeholder sustainability initiatives to produce the report: Certification and Roundtables: Do they Work? Building on that work, she is currently leading a Pilot Project with WWF’s Market Transformation Initiative examining impacts of Marine Stewardship Council certified whitefish fisheries in the Arctic.

Christine also teaches on two graduate courses at the University of Geneva. She is an Affiliate with the ISEAL Alliance. She has a Masters Degree in Environment and Development from the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Geography and Environmental Studies from Trent University, Canada.

Sarah French

Sarah is a Board Director of Earthmind. She has over 20 years of international experience in both the environment and development fields with an emphasis on biodiversity, business and conservation. Sarah specialises in project cycle management, research and evaluation. She has proven experience across trade, education, ecotourism, forestry and agricultural sectors. She is the Director of Operations for A Rocha International which engages in scientific research, environmental education and community-based conservation projects.

Previously experience includes:

in Geneva, consultancy partnering with public, private and not- for- profit organisations worldwide
in Geneva, advisor for ICTSD on oversight and evaluation
at Chester University, lecturing in geography and international development studies and founding/ co-directing the ‘Global Perspective’-a grass roots initiative in development awareness, environmental education, and advocacy.
in Cajamarca in the rural Andes, Peru, working for PROESA- an Integrated development project in natural resources management
in Oruro, Bolivia, working as a coordinator of field placements in community- based experiential placements

Sarah has an MSc in Environment and Development Education from South Bank University of London, PGCE in Environmental Science from Garnett College, Greenwich University, and a BSc Hons Geography and Natural Science from Kent University.

Stephanie Presber James

Stephanie sepcialises in the economic, legal and political aspects of conservation, with an emphasis on effective incentives for protected area management performance. She is the Director of LiNC (Linking Nature and Culture), dedicated to improving conservation performance outcomes for managed natural assets, cultural assets, or both, particularly through the use of innovative financial mechanisms. Previously, she worked for the Global Heritage Fund as Project Leader for the “Saving Our Vanishing Heritage” initiative and for the Secretariat to the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Her published works on “An Institutional Approach to Protected Area Management Performance” have served as the basis for the CBD’s Incentive Measures for Conservation and Sustainable Use; IUCN’s Research Program on Biodiversity Conservation Incentive Measures; the OECD’s Expert Group on Economic Aspects of Biodiversity Conservation; and the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands work on incentives. Her institutional approach also provides the analytical foundation for “The Politics and Economics of Park Management” and has informed numerous related publications.

Stephanie has a PhD in Land Economy from the University of Cambridge, a MSc in Environment and Development from the London School of Economics, and a BA in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley.

Julian Metcalfe

Julian is a senior diplomat with extensive experience of working with international organisations, NGOs and the business community. He has worked in Malawi, Egypt, Latin America, the Balkans, and as Minister and Deputy Permanent Representative at the UK Mission to the United Nations in Geneva. With Earthmind, he has a played a central role in the GDM 2010 Initiative and the subsequent Green Development Initiative. His experience includes:

Leading the UK Delegation to the World Trade Organisation Doha trade negotiations for 4 years (2005 -09). Elected Chairman of the WTO Committee on Regional Trade Agreements
Leading the UK Delegation to the UNCTAD XII Ministerial Conference, Accra, 2008
Deputy Head of Mission, British Embassy, Zagreb, 1995 – 97
Policy experience in the Former Yugoslavia (1993 – 2000), South Africa (1991 – 93), the Middle East (1987 -91) and Latin America (1983 -87)
Strategic management of a global asset portfolio, including considerable interface with the private sector
Development planing in Africa as a Fellow of the Overseas Development Institute (1981 -82)

Julian specialises in international negotiation, conflict resolution and stakeholder management. He is a Development Economist by training, having a Masters degree in Economics from Sussex University and a BSc in Politics and Economics from Bristol University.

Barbara Mueller

Barbara’s work bridges conservation and finance. She is trained in corporate finance and was an investment banker with Goldman Sachs in Frankfurt, Germany. Over the past few years Barbara has worked as a freelance consultant spezialising in conservation finance and private sector biodiversity engagement. Some of her recent assignments include:

Financial and business planning advisory for the leading initiative to develop pre-compliance conservation banking in the U.S.
Research on conflicts and their solutions arising in the process of protected area planning and regional (business) development
Assessment of funding options for the protected area network in Carinthia, Austria
Analysis of private sector engagement/sponsorships in Alpine protected areas
Co-founded SOS Parks, an international volunteer network dedicated to the rescue of protected areas in danger: www.sosparks.org

Barbara has a Masters Degree in Social and Economic Sciences from the University of Vienna, Austria, and a Masters Degree in Protected Area Management from the University of Klagenfurt, Austria, where she now trains protected area managers on conservation finance and business-oriented financial planning. Barbara is a member of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas and the Conservation Finance Alliance Innovative Finance Mechanisms Working Group. Currently Barbara is an advisor with the Green Development Initiative (GDI) developing a market analysis of possible private-sector GDI financing.

Erwin Rose

Erwin is a senior fellow at the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development, and a liaison to the US Trade Representative’s Trade and Environment Policy Advisory Committee.

Erwin has extensive experience in sustainable development policy, including as a community organizer in the Bronx, NY, chief of staff to a New York State senator, and economic affairs officer at the UN Conference on Trade and Development in Geneva. He served as the trade promotion coordinator for the US Department of Commerce at the American Institute in Taiwan and the local government advisor for the US Agency for International Development in Paraguay.

He was a foreign affairs officer at the US Department of State, Bureau of Oceans, Environment and Science from 2001-2006 and 2008-2009. He received the State Department’s Superior Honor Award for his achievement as Acting Division Chief for Trade and Environment. He was the lead US negotiator of the US-Central America-Dominican Republic and the US-Peru Environmental Cooperation Agreements and participated in trade negotiations. As the bureau’s North American Affairs Officer, he monitored implementation of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation and the US-Canada Air Quality Agreement. As a regional policy advisor for East Asia, he served on the secretariat of the cabinet-level US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue.

Erwin co-edited Linking Trade, Climate Change and Energy for the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development in 2006. He was a senior fellow at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Program on Governance for Sustainable Development from 2007-2008. He holds a MA in Education from Columbia University, a BA in English and History from the University of Pennsylvania, and has completed courses in international relations at the US Foreign Service Institute.

Till Stoll

Till is CEO of Green Destinations and previously worked as an economist for Credit Suisse and several international organizations including the UN Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank. In 2006, he founded Green Destinations, a property development company that specializes in master planning resource-efficient property and designing ecologically-sound urban areas and cities. Green Destinations is an Official Osec Expert (OOE) in the areas of sustainable construction and clean technology, and has served various clients including United Holdings, Kempinski Hotel, Nakheel-The World, Emirates Heights Egypt, Spacetoon Properties & Theme Parks, Five Continents Hospitality Management, Deutsche Schule Dubai, Nuzul Holdings Bahrain, and the municipalities of Abuja (Nigeria), Polokwane (South Africa), Ras Al Khaimah (UAE) and Tehran (Iran).

Till studied economics at Oxford University and Cambridge University, and was a fellow at Harvard University. He is the Chairman of the Environmental Committee of the Swiss Business Council and founder of the Swiss Environment Initiative.

Michael ‘tSas-Rolfes

Michael is a sustainability economist, with unique experience and understanding of the role of markets for biodiversity conservation. He has been actively involved in various private conservation initiatives for 25 years, starting as a financial manager of a private game reserve in South Africa. Michael conducted pioneering research into the role of private markets for wildlife conservation in Southern Africa, and worked with Francis Vorhies in setting up Eco Plus, an innovative consultancy on business, economics and the environment.

His consulting experience includes work on issues as varied as energy policy, environmental impact assessments, trans-frontier conservation areas, wildlife trade policy and institutional reform in protected area management. Past clients include the World Energy Council, USAID, WWF, TRAFFIC International, Africa Resources Trust and Save the Rhino International.

He has also written extensively on various conservation issues, especially relating to trade in endangered species, and has been involved with teaching and supervision of students. He has also worked and published with several think tanks, including the Free Market Foundation, Institute of Economic Affairs Environment Unit, Property and Environment Research Center and the International Policy Network.

Michael completed his BCom (Hons) at the University of the Witwatersrand and his MSc in Environmental Resource Economics at University College London under Professor David Pearce. He also has a diploma in integrated environmental management from the University of Cape Town.