Conservation Finance Associate

Summary
The World Resources Institute (WRI) seeks a qualified candidate with experience and expertise in applying conservation finance mechanisms to protect at-risk ecosystems. We seek a results-oriented, self-motivated individual with excellent quantitative analysis, research, and writing skills for a full-time position within our People and Ecosystems Program (PEP). The position will initially focus on scaling up effective conservation finance mechanisms for forests of the southern United States and helping design new mechanisms that respond to emerging market opportunities. The position falls under the auspices of Southern Forests for the Future (SFF), a three year project that began in 2009. Key objectives for SFF in 2010 include:
• Evaluate the spectrum of conservation finance mechanisms (existing and new) available to protect at-risk forests of the southern United States to identify those with the greatest promise for conserving or encouraging sustainable management of the most acres at the lowest cost. Payments for ecosystem services, offsets, public cost share programs, user fees, water quality trading markets and land acquisition programs are among the mechanisms that will be evaluated.
• Co-author peer reviewed research to analyze the effectiveness and potential impact of a handful of conservation finance mechanisms selected for more detailed consideration and to inform the configuration of new or existing programs to maximize their effectiveness and scale of application.
• Help WRI’s partners pilot test these incentives and maximize their uptake by industrial and non-industrial forestland owners.

As the project progresses, the Conservation Finance Associate will have the opportunity to contribute expertise to other PEP projects aimed at sustaining ecosystems and the services they provide.

The Associate will be part of WRI’s Mainstreaming Ecosystem Services Initiative, which seeks to reduce ecosystem degradation by helping governments, businesses, and development agencies integrate ecosystem services into their policies, strategies, and investments. The initiative’s strategy is two-fold:
1) Provide decision-makers with information and assessment tools that link ecosystem health with the attainment of economic and social goals; and
2) Develop new markets, economic incentives, and public policies that restore and sustain ecosystems.
Major responsibilities
• Prepare an economic analysis of various conservation finance mechanisms available to industrial and non-industrial forestland owners throughout the southern United States.
• Support the PEP Senior Economist with design and implementation of 2-3 peer-reviewed publications investigating forestland owner response to conservation finance mechanisms and the value of ecosystem services in several pilot forest regions geographically dispersed throughout the southern United States.
• Help work with private and non-profit partners in the process of pilot testing conservation finance options to maximize their uptake by industrial and non-industrial private forestland owners:
– Design the parameters of each pilot test;
– Conduct supporting analyses;
– Help secure participation of regional stakeholders;
– Leverage funding from public and private sources;
– Adjust design parameters based on lessons learned.
• Assist with writing and publishing a WRI report summarizing the portfolio of finance programs and results of pilot tests.
• Help implement an influence strategy to roll out the most promising finance programs throughout the southern United States.
Qualifications
• Advanced degree with a focus on conservation finance, environmental economics, natural resource economics, or other relevant field.
• Familiarity with the tools of non-market valuation including contingent valuation, benefits transfer, hedonic price models, travel cost models, choice experiments, and experimental economics.
• Strong quantitative skills and experience working with large data sets. Experience with statistical packages such as STATA and Excel spreadsheets strongly preferred.
• Minimum 3 years of relevant work experience working with conservation finance mechanisms to protect at risk ecosystems. Five years is a plus.
• Very solid analytical and research skills.
• Very strong English oral and writing skills. Proficiency in at least one other language is a plus.
• Experience with forest ecosystems, especially those in the southern United States, preferred.
• Experience or knowledge working with non-governmental organizations, private sector entities, and government agencies in designing and implementing forest conservation strategies.
• Commitment to conservation or sustainable management of ecosystems for the sake of human well being as well as biodiversity.
• Excellent computer skills in Microsoft Office and internet research.
• Willingness to travel regularly throughout the southern United States to work with partner organizations and forestland owners.

Apply online at http://www.wri.org/jobs