Karen PODVIN

Karen is Ecuadorian; she has a BSc in Applied Ecology from the Universidad San Francisco de Quito (2007); a Specialization in Climate Change from the Simón Bolívar Andean University (2011); and an MSc in Forest and Nature Conservation from Wageninen University in the Netherlands (2013).

She has more than 16 years of work experience in nature conservation and sustainable development in various NGOs/international organizations (Fundación Brethren y Unida, Outward Bound, Wildlife Conservation Society, IUCN), public sector (Socio Bosque Program) and academia (a few months in Wageningen).

Since September 2013 she has been working at the Regional Office for South America of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN SUR), coordinating various initiatives in the region under the umbrella of Nature-based Solutions to climate change with an emphasis on Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA), Ecosystem-based Disaster Risk Reduction (Eco-DRR), forest governance and conservation; since August 2021, she is the Senior Program Officer on Climate Change at IUCN SUR.