Who We Are

jtheadshot.jpg

Jim Tolisano

  • Co-founder and principal

Jim has designed, implemented, and coached natural resource and biodiversity conservation projects in more than 50 countries, and held a wide variety of professional positions that integrate applied work in sustainable finance, biodiversity conservation planning, protected area management, and communications. From 2006-2012, Jim served as the Director of the Kinship Conservation Fellows, an environmental leadership program that provides training and guidance in conservation finance strategies, business management, and economic tools for mid-career professionals. He is also Adjunct Professor of Conservation Practice in the Gallatin School of Interdisciplinary Studies at New York University and an Advisor to the Center for Sustainable Business in the Stern School of Business.

kmheadshot.jpg

Kina Murphy, Ph.D.

  • Conservation ecologist

Kina Murphy is a conservation biologist whose work emphasizes practical actions to sustain and enhance biodiversity in areas that have been heavily impacted by resource extraction. She has over 15 years of field and management experience working in over 10 countries. Her responsibilities have ranged from biodiversity monitoring and market-based approaches to conservation to community based conservation planning and policy. Most recently, Kina led the development, management, and implementation of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Oyu Tolgoi Core Biodiversity Monitoring program for the South Gobi in Mongolia. She has a strong background in assisting companies and lenders in adopting and promoting best practices in terms of the management of biodiversity and ecosystem services; coordinating with governments to support the establishment of policies and regulations that foster improved land use management; and creating opportunities for better conservation outcomes from development. Kina has worked with communities, businesses and all levels of government in Botswana, Malawi, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Mongolia and throughout the U.S. Kina holds a Ph.D in Biology from the University of New Mexico with a concentration in “Mitigating the Impacts of Human Land-Use Change on Biodiversity”, and a Master’s in Community and Regional Planning from the University of New Mexico.

 
nrheadshot.jpg

Nejem Raheem, Ph.D.

  • ecological economist

Nejem Raheem is an Associate Professor of Ecological Economics at Emerson College, where he teaches in the Marketing Communication department and the Environmental Studies Minor. His teaching includes coursework that demonstrates the link between ecology and economics. His research addresses traditional and indigenous land use and ecosystem services, looking particularly at traditional irrigation practices. His fieldwork has included an assessment of traditional water use in the state of New Mexico, research on Inupiat Eskimo hunting, and traditional land use practices in Labrador, Canada. He has lived and worked in Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the Canadian northern territories. Nejem is widely published with solo and coauthored articles in the Journal of the Commons, Marine Policy, the Social Science Journal, and elsewhere. Current projects include a working group funded in part by the USGS on ecological drought; and projects on cataloging and valuing ecosystem services in northern New Mexico. Nejem received his MA and Ph.D. in Economics at the University of New Mexico and his BA in theater at Bennington College.

 
 
 

Fernando Bretos

Fernando is Director of Cresta Coastal Network, which helps Caribbean coastal communities adapt to a changing ocean through habitat restoration and by expanding access to capital and markets for those who depend on the ocean for their livelihoods. Cresta operates in Cuba, Haiti, Mexico, and The Bahamas. He specializes in building cross-border partnerships, developing innovative conservation finance strategies, and strengthening marine protected area management. Fernando has secured and managed multimillion-dollar conservation partnerships with governments, foundations, multilateral organizations, and local communities across the region, and directs RedGolfo, a Gulf of Mexico network of 11 MPAs in Cuba, Mexico, and the United States. During 12 years at the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science, he led its marine conservation program and founded Museum Volunteers for the Environment, which since 2007 has engaged over 20,000 Miami residents in restoring more than 25 acres of mangrove, dune, coral reef, and coastal hammock. He also created ocean-themed exhibits for the museum, aquarium, and planetarium that opened in 2017. Earlier, at The Ocean Conservancy, he managed the Caribbean Biodiversity Program and led research expeditions to Navassa Island, declared a National Wildlife Refuge the following year.

Fernando has published widely in academic journals and recently authored Wild Miami: Explore the Amazing Nature in and Around South Florida. He holds a master's degree from the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science and a bachelor's in biology from Oberlin College. He is a National Fellow at The Explorers Club, a National Geographic Society Explorer, and a Kinship Conservation Fellow.