Federal Funding and the Tools to Find It
Webinar
This is a time of unprecedented funding opportunities for land conservation but knowing where to look, tackling capacity restraints, and getting the training needed to succeed can be challenging. This session will identify and demo a selection of new tools and programs available to support land trusts with the funding process. Highlighted will be WALT: Wildlife and Land Trusts, a tool for land trusts to identify federal resources for wildlife conservation developed by Defenders of Wildlife, as well as Chesapeake Conservation Partnership’s NEW federal funding navigator, and other available technical assistance.
Speakers
Mary Pfaffko | Director Private Lands Program, Defenders of Wildlife
Mary Pfaffko is the Director of the Private Lands Program at Defenders of Wildlife where she conducts policy analysis and advocates for wildlife conservation on private lands. This includes engagement with Congress, agencies, and organizations. Prior to joining Defenders, she served as Assistant Chief of Nongame for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Teaming with Wildlife Associate for the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, and Wildlife Biologist for DC Fisheries and Wildlife. She has an MA in International Affairs from American University and a BS in Environmental Science from University of Florida.
Suzy Yetter | Staff Ecologist, ClearWater Conservancy
Suzy joined ClearWater Conservancy in June 2017. As the staff Ecologist, Suzy provides technical expertise in developing and implementing conservation strategies through ClearWater’s land and water resources programs and works with landowners, volunteers, local organizations, and other partners to protect and restore healthy ecosystems. Before coming to ClearWater, Suzy spent over 20 years studying riverine benthic macroinvertebrate ecology, conducting natural resource and water quality assessments, and managing interdisciplinary research projects at Penn State University where she earned her B.A. in Wildlife and Fisheries Science and her M.S. in Ecology.
Faren R. Wolter, PhD | Conservation Social Scientist & Chesapeake WILD Program Coordinator
Dr. Faren R. Wolter leads and coordinates the establishment of U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s newest landscape-scale conservation effort, Chesapeake Watershed Investments for Landscape Defense (WILD) or Chesapeake WILD; consists of a competitive conservation investment grant program and a diverse partner action network collaborating across the Chesapeake Bay watershed to share resources, amplify capacity, and leverage funding to scale-up place-based conservation actions that focus on restoring, conserving, and connecting habitat for imperiled fish and wildlife, and improving recreational access to and connections with nature for people. She also has a side-interest in training detection canines as a non-invasive field technique to assist wildlife research and conservation. Dr. Wolter holds a Ph.D. in Forestry with an emphasis in Society & Ecosystems from University of Missouri – Columbia, and a B.S. in Aquaculture, Fisheries, and Wildlife Biology from Clemson University. She is also graduate of the Virginia Natural Resources Leadership Institute and earned a professional designation as a Certified Wildlife Biologist®.
Ben Alexandro | Program Manager, Chesapeake Conservation Partnership
Ben is well versed in partnership building, conservation science and policy issues. He championed several policy victories to protect forests, clean water and the Chesapeake Bay. Ben led advocacy efforts on public lands and waters conservation issues while he was the senior government affairs advocate at the League of Conservation Voters. He also spent six years working to conserve the Chesapeake Bay watershed at the Maryland League of Conservation Voters where he most recently was the water program director and the Maryland lead for the Choose Clean Water Coalition. Before graduate school, he coordinated the Potomac Watershed Partnership with the Cacapon Institute. Ben has a master’s degree in conservation biology and sustainable development and a M.P.P. in environmental public policy with a focus on nonprofit management and leadership from the University of Maryland. He also earned a bachelor’s in wildlife conservation from the University of Delaware.
Chase Douglas | Program Coordinator, Chesapeake Conservation Partnership
As the CCP program coordinator, Chase works to grow and strengthen new and existing partnerships while also providing technical support to CCP partners. Chase previously worked with the Friends of the National Zoo as their partnership coordinator and operations support coordinator, and most recently, he was one of the visitor services managers at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore. Chase has a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies with a minor in biology from Salisbury University. While completing his studies, he held an internship with the Salisbury Zoo’s education department, where he cared for their ambassador species and brought them to local community events to educate people about how they could support conservation efforts.
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