Soledad is the Thematic Expert on Trade, Finance and Investment for Sustainable Development. She has participated in more than fifty multilateral environmental negotiations, mostly on finance and trade and environment issues within the climate change, biodiversity, biosafety and chemicals conventions, working for the Earth Negotiations Bulletin as writer and team leader, and previously as a negotiator and diplomat for the Argentine Government. She has also worked as a consultant on international environmental law for the World Bank and the Food and Agriculture Organization on issues including a post-2012 climate change framework, pest and pesticide management, and biofuels. She is a regular contributor to specialized environmental policy and law journals, and holds an LLM degree from the London School of Economics and law degree from University of Buenos Aires.

Tomi is a lawyer currently doing her PhD in the University of Dundee in Scotland. She got her first degree (in law) from the University of Lagos in Nigeria and an LL.M. in international law from UCL (London). She has done various internships, including with FIELD and the climate change secretariat, and is currently researching on climate change issues generally and the CDM in particular. Her research is focused on determining the drivers of CDM investment in developing countries. She is enjoying living in Dundee and particularly loves ceilidhs (Scottish dancing) but has not been quite bold enough to try a lot of the food. She enjoys cooking, singing, reading, swimming and travelling (!) and hopes to get to see a lot of the world very soon.

Melanie holds an MSc in Environment and Development from the London School of Economics. Her dissertation analyzed the relationship between International Financial Institutions and developing country Governments in a Principal-Agent framework. Originally from Melbourne, she also holds a Bachelor of Science in Earth Sciences from the University of Melbourne. Melanie first attended international environmental negotiations as a member of the WSSD Youth Caucus and later as a consultant in the area of Persistent Organic Pollutants. She has worked extensively on chemical management and environmental issues throughout the South Pacific. In her spare time, Melanie can be found rock-climbing, snorkeling or on the dancefloor.

Graeme is a Ph.D. candidate at Yale’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. For nearly a decade he has studied the emergence and impacts of social and environmental certification initiatives in the forest sector. His dissertation compares these programs in the coffee, fishery and forest sectors. When not working, Graeme loves cooking with friends or hanging from rocks. He calls Vancouver, Canada home.

Paula has a Ph.D. in international environmental law from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. The focus of her research was the making and re-making of four multilateral environmental agreements on hazardous chemicals, i.e., the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions and the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM). She holds a masters degree in international law from UBC and a law degree from the University of Los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia. She has worked as an attorney at law in the private sector, as a legal adviser for the International Affairs Office of Colombia’s Ministry of Environment and as a freelance report writer for the United Nations Office in Nairobi. She is fluent in Spanish, English and French.

Nienke holds an MSc in Biology (Ecology) from the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. She also obtained a certificate in Environmental Education from the University of Minnesota, US. Nienke is currently enjoying a bohemian life based in Haarlem (near Amsterdam), combining freelance science writing and consultancies for a variety of organizations. These include UNEP-AEWA, the Dutch Organization for Scientific Research and the Dutch national newspaper NRC. She has a passion for the outdoors and for Arctic adventures: whenever she can, she leaves her computer work behind and travels to Northern Norway to work as a whalewatching guide.

Catherina holds a Master of Environmental Science from the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale University. Previously, she worked with the World Resources Institute, the Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment in Uganda, and the Papua New Guinea Mission to the UN. Catherine is currently completing her Ph.D. in environmental sciences at the University of Michigan. Her research explores how organizational strategies and individual decision-making influence marine conservation governance in Cambodia and Papua New Guinea. Catherine enjoys rock climbing, diving, hiking, and swimming.

Dan lives in Hawaii, where he operates Japan’s national Subaru Telescope on Mauna Kea. He holds a Graduate Certificate of Science in Astronomy from Swinburne University of Technology in Australia. When not working nights, he attends conferences as an ENB Digital Editor or Writer, focusing mainly on oceans and forests. He enjoys photography, writing, cycling, hiking, skindiving, and visiting family and friends worldwide.

Alice has a French and Anglo-American law degree from Nanterre Univeristy in Paris with a specialization in international law. She also holds a Masters in International Legal Studies from the New York University. Being a qualified lawyer in New York, England and Wales, Alice has worked in the Public International and Environmental law groups as an associate at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in London. She currently lives in Barcelona, Spain, where she teaches at ESADE University and works as freelance consultant on environmental law and law of the sea issues. She is responsible for the water, oceans and coasts section of IISD’s two publications the MEA Bulletin and Linkages Update.

Robynne holds a masters in journalism from New York University, and is an Editor and Manager for IISD RS’s “Your Meeting Bulletin.” When not poring over a Bulletin in search of misplaced commas, dates or acronyms, she can be found standing on her head in full lotus, strolling through a park, or exploring her new home - Atlanta, Georgia.

Douglas is completing his Ph.D. in Energy and Resources at the University of California, Berkeley. His research in the field of Science and Technology Studies (STS) focuses on science advising and the structure of expert bodies in international agreements. He has written extensively on advising processes in the Codex Alimentarius Commission and the Clean Development Mechanism. Before beginning his Ph.D., Douglas designed wind-powered rural electrification systems in Eritrea. In his free time, Douglas enjoys backpacking and fly-fishing in the Sierra Nevada, playing disc golf, and relaxing with his wife, Sikina.

Pamis trying to juggle motherhood, the Bulletin and an academic career. In addition to serving as co-founder and executive editor of the Bulletin, Pam has published articles on developing country capacity building for environmental negotiations, scientific uncertainty in negotiations, professional cultures in negotiations, desertification and the UNCCD, and various environmental treaties and negotiating processes. Her most recent book is: Global Environmental Politics, 5th edition (Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 2010). She was a Fulbright Senior Scholar in Wellington, New Zealand in 2007 and the results of her research have been published by the East-West Center: “Confronting Environmental Treaty Implementation Challenges in the Pacific Islands” Pam is also Director of International Studies and an Associate Professor of Government at Manhattan College in New York. Whatever other “spare” time exists is spent with her husband, Kimo, and two sons, Samuel and Kai.

Qian has worked as Policy Advisor on climate change and China at Germanwatch based in Bonn and Beijing, initially as a German Chancellor Fellow with the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. She also worked as Co-Chair of the Finance Working Group of the Climate Action Network at various UN climate change negotiations. Prior to her careers in Europe, she worked as Campaigner at Greenpeace in China and South-East Asia. She holds a B.A. in law from Capital University of Economics and Business in Beijing, and an MPhil in Environment Policy from the University of Cambridge. She is a native Chinese Mandarin speaker fluent in English and working to improve her German. Her current interests are in the post-2012 climate architecture, and the development of social entrepreneurship in China. She enjoys inviting friends to her Chinese cooking, and she is keen to practice more on her Nikon.

Since October 2007, Claudio has worked for IISD as a writer and editor of the Earth Negotiations Bulletin. Claudio is currently Research Fellow on International Governance of Biodiversity at the Institut du Développement Durable et des Relations Internationales (IDDRI), an independent, not-for profit think-tank based at Sciences Po in Paris. His research interests include: international environmental law, comparative law, international regulation of biotechnology, intellectual property law, open source systems of technology development and transfer, humanitarian licensing and genetic resources policy issues.

Alex holds a doctorate in Geography from the University of Oxford, where she examined the impacts of political and environmental change on agricultural communities in Uzbekistan. She completed an M.Sc. in Environmental Change and Management at Oxford in 2005, focusing on watershed management in Iran, and a B.Eng. at McGill University in 2004. Currently, Alex is a Visiting Research Associate at the University of Oxford. Her research interests include the appropriateness of dominant approaches to climate change adaptation in post-Soviet contexts and the role of regime linking in improving the effectiveness of multilateral environmental agreements.

After a couple of years enjoying the sun in Senegal, Alexis has recently returned to Ottawa, Canada, and is trying his hardest to live a sustainable life--in every sense of the word! When not busy on the family or work fronts, he can often be found running along Ottawa's spectacular pathways while dreaming of a return to more active ENB service.

While working towards her recently received master’s degree in International Environmental Policy Jennifer also acted as a voice for the endangered southern sea otters as Senior Program Manager for Friends of the Sea Otter in Monterey, California. She has since moved to New York City, where she worked for the Zeitz Foundation, developing a community participatory oriented agroforestry manual and assisting the communications advisor. She also volunteered for Panthera, a wild cat conservation organization, feeding her insurmountable adoration towards felines. When Jennifer is not working or volunteering, she’s most likely out in fancy shoes dancing tango.

Jonna received her BA in Peace and Conflict studies and Environmental Policy from the University of Toronto, where she focused her research on the role of non-state actors in the UNFCCC process. She has contributed her research on civil society influence to the Yale/UNITAR conference on Environmental Governance and Democracy and was a member of the Canadian Government Delegation to the 16th and 17th United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development as an NGO delegate. Joanna was the 2011 Pimlott Lecturer at the University of Toronto and continues to showcase creative perspectives on climate policy through her correspondence on CIUT 89.5 The Green Majority. Joanna is pleased to be joining the ENB reporting and IISD Knowledge Management Projects team.

Debbie holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Emory University in Atlanta. She is Director of the MA Programme in Global Affairs and lecturer in international political economy at the University of Buckingham in the UK and author of Global Environmental Negotiations and US Interests (2006, Palgrave Macmillan). Her research covers global forest policy and other multilateral environmental negotiating processes. Formerly director of environmental work at the Carter Presidential Center in Atlanta, she has covered numerous meetings related to forests, biodiversity, and climate change for IISD Reporting Services since 1996, including the completion of the Kyoto Protocol.

Mongi, our French language translator, lives in Tunis, although he can  sometimes be found in Paris, where his daughters work..

Sandra is completing her Ph.D. at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, Switzerland on environmental governance and conservation policies, with a focus on the participation of local communities in natural resources governance. She has worked on global conservation policy at IUCN and on the social impacts of environmental conventions and conservation policies (her Master thesis addressed CITES relation to sustainable development and livelihoods). She also has experience of biological control of cultural and forest pests (she holds a Master of biology/entomology on that issue), organic agriculture development and evaluation. Native from Québec, she’s currently living in North Argentina, where she enjoys running and trekking along impressive Andean landscape and mountain forest.

Eréndira got a degree on Biology in Mexico and an MSc on Marine and Fisheries Science in Scotland. Former Head of the Department of Wildlife International Agreements in the Mexican Environment Ministry, she moved in 2007 to Madrid and works now as freelance consultant. With a lifetime interest on marine stuff, she has recently written the book “Sharks: conservation, fishing and international trade".

Having acquired degrees in Germany, Ireland and Spain, Johannes is currently working on his Ph.D. at the University of Tübingen. The focus of his research is on the role of the Convention on Biological Diversity in shaping international negotiation dynamics on access to genetic resources and benefit-sharing. He has previously served as Deputy Chief Editor for an online political science portal and worked as an intern for the UN Development Programme and Germany’s Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMU). He also has an abiding interest in pre-Colombian civilizations, the Spanish guitar and Latin American culture.

Tasha lives in Hawaii where her passion for indigenous culture and the relationship between people and plants is a thriving reality. She founded Sustainable Solutions in 2004 with the goal of implementing strategic sustainability programs globally and maintaining an active voice in the ongoing planetary dialogue of sustainable development. Her efforts focus on empowering indigenous communities, adding value throughout supply chains, cultivating carbon awareness, and fostering the sustainable use of natural resources. Since receiving her degree in Ethnobotany, and working on her Certificate to become a GHG Accountant from the Greenhouse Gas Management Institute, Tasha has collaborated with businesses, governmental agencies, elders, scientists, and artists to bring these varied populations to action. She works with a colorful range of clients such as the World Wild Fund for Nature (WWF), the International Trade Center (ITC, a joint agency of United Nations and World Trade Organization), Estee Lauder, Aveda, Neill Corporation, ArXotica and others. Tasha is also the author of a number of publications on the topics of ethnobotany and sustainability, and recently presented her research at the Global Conference on Global Warming in Istanbul. She helped write the curriculum for the University of Alaska’s first Ethnobotany certificate program.

Vicky is currently the Reporting Services Project Accountant for IISD. She holds a Diploma in Business Administration from Red River College and plans on pursuing either her CA or CGA designation. Vicky has worked in the Accounting field for 5 years and prior to that worked in the banking industry for another 5 years. Vicky currently is in the midst of moving into her first house w/ her Son of 12 years, Boyfriend and his son of 13 years. Vicky is also currently preparing for her Black Belt test in December in Tae Kwon Do.

Originally a law graduate from Durham University, Leonie worked as a lawyer in London and Brussels and then as an independent documentary film-maker in the UK, Israel and Palestine and New York. Returning to academia in 2003, through a Masters in the Anthropology of Development at the University of Sussex, she is now in her second year of a Ph.D. in Anthropology at the University of Kent, Canterbury. Her research focus is on international conservation policy through a case study of the UNEP/UNESCO Great Apes Survival Project, with fieldwork in Cameroon and Kenya. Leonie speaks French, Dutch and some Kiswahili..

Kimo is the Director of IISD Reporting Services and a founder of the Earth Negotiations Bulletin. He is responsible for the fundraising and overall coordination of the ENB, Linkages Update, the Linkages website, “Your Meeting Bulletin”, the CLIMATE-L.ORG knowledgebase, and ENBOTS. He also is the founder and moderator of CLIMATE-L, WATER-L, FORESTS-L, ENERGY-L, LAND-L and CHEMICALS-L. Kimo was born in Hawaii and raised in Berkeley, California. From 1971 through 1988 he was an actor in films, television and radio (SAG/AFTRA), a stand-up comedian and professional clown while accumulating university degrees. In 1988 he moved to Brazil to work for UNDP in Brasília and later as the Director of IPHAE, an applied research institute in Porto Velho, Rondonia. He has lived in mid-town Manhattan since 1994 with Pamela Chasek and their two sons, Sam and Kai. Kimo is a former marathon runner (2:48) and now rides a Griffen Kompressor road bike about 300 km a week in the rural areas of the Upper Hudson River Valley, north of Manhattan. When not on his bicycle, he can be found in his lounge-chair computer with multiple monitors and a fast internet connection. His personal website is http://www.kimogoree.com.

María got her Ph.D. in Anthropology from the City University of New York with a dissertation on the creation of a market for sinks under the Kyoto Protocol. She has taught Human Ecology and Cultural Anthropology and often works with the UNFCCC secretariat on matters related to adaptation to climate change. She likes long walks, is a student of kyudo (Japanese archery), and has a strange fascination for all things LULUCF and for annotated agendas.

Currently a Ph.D. student at the Faculty of Forestry of the University of British Columbia, Reem has an MA in Conservation Biology from Columbia University, and a BSc in Biology from McGill. Her research keeps taking her back to Latin America, and soon she'll be studying community forest management in Brazil, Bolivia and Mexico. She has recently worked as a consultant with the "Diversity for Livelihoods" programme at the International Plant Genetics Resources Institute (IPGRI) in Rome, Italy, and speaks English, Arabic, French, Spanish, and Portuguese. Besides trekking through tropical jungles, she enjoys cooking, swimming in oceans, and navigating through metropolises.

Kate is a scientist by training, a writer by compulsion, and a wilderness pilgrim by passion. She hails from rural Ontario but these days mostly calls a tent "home." She has a B.Sc. in biology from UNC-Chapel Hill, an M.Sc. in geology from MIT, and an M.Phil. in the history of science from Oxford, where she wrote her thesis on the relationship between transboundary protected areas (TBPAs) and conflict resolution. More details here: http://www.kateharris.ca/

Cherelle is a Samoan journalist with extensive background knowledge on the UN climate change processes and negotiations. She is currently the Editor of Environment Weekly, an environmental publication in Samoa, and writes on environmental issues for the Samoa Observer, the only daily newspaper. She recently returned to Apia from the University of Oxford, where she was a Reuters Fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.

Sikina is an Assistant Professor of International Relations at American University’s the School of International Service in Washington DC. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International Studies, and holds a doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley in International Environmental Politics. She also holds an M.S. from the University of Montana in Environmental Studies and a BA from U.C. Berkeley in Environmental Science. Her current research interests include the role secretariats in the politics of inter-regime cooperation, the role of developing countries in WTO sustainable development negotiations and, strategic linkages between climate change politics and other areas of international relations.

Twig received his Ph.D. in ecological anthropology from Columbia University. He has participated in many international negotiations as a member of US, UN or NGO delegations. Government experience includes: the US Agency for International Development as Director of the Office of Environment and Natural Resources, Chief of the Policy Studies Division and of the UN Division; Peace Corps/Brazil as Volunteer and as Country Director. United Nations experience includes UNICEF as Chief of Evaluation and Planning. NGO experience includes: Center for Field Research, Earthwatch; WWF as Regional Director for Latin America; and, the Policy and Global Affairs Division of the National Academy of Science. He has also been a member of the International Advisory Group of the Pilot Program for the Amazon (Brazil, G-7, and World Bank). Recently sworn in as Assistant Harbor Master and Deputy Shellfish Constable of Kingston, Massachusetts, he likes to spend quality time with people he cares about, ideally on or next to the sea.

Stefan has worked for IISD as project officer on the negotiations on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (REDD) and as associate working in the areas of sustainable agriculture, genetic resources for food and agriculture, and linkages between international regulation on biodiversity conservation and other issue areas such as trade and climate change. He completed his Ph.D. on institutional interplay in global environmental governance at Humboldt University, Berlin in 2007. Originally from Germany, Stefan is currently based in Gatineau, Québec, where he spends his free time exploring the great Canadian outdoors.

Hal has consulted and written for dozens of sustainable development NGOs and foundations, beginning a long time ago by publishing an 80-page summary of the Brundtland Report. He co-launched the annual Vital Signs book (W.W. Norton & Co.) at the Worldwatch Institute, and has published a handful of other books and many articles about sustainable development, hunger, refugee issues, and environmental economics, and spoken often on the radio, TV, and at universities and conferences around the world. He loves hiking in the hills around San Francisco, where he lives.

Resson is 22 years old and is currently completing a general science degree with a double major in Zoology and Botany at the University of Nairobi. Having enjoyed every minute of her zoology and ecology classes, she plans to do a Masters in Marine Biology. She is captivated by the world of marketing and has worked to facilitate local events for several universities around the world.

Tallash studied International Relations and minored in Environmental Studies at undergraduate level at the United States International University. She is currently seeking to better understand the concept of sustainable development from both the political angle and at the practical level, and hopes to do her Masters in Environmental Policy. When not the “hybrid” team member for IISD RS, she can be found mentoring teenage girls, practising photography, reading, or working with women’s groups in and around Nairobi.

Pia is currently an Assistant Professor of International Relations at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and has been writing for ENB since July 2002. In early 2006, she completed her Ph.D. at MIT in International Environmental Policy, focusing on how representative membership and a transparent and flexible process can improve science advice in multilateral environmental agreements. She also has a Masters in environmental sciences from Yale’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, and a B.Sc. in Geography and Environmental Science from McGill University.

Pui was born and raised in Bangkok. She received a bachelor degree in education in 1986 and taught outside of Bangkok for 7 years. After returning to Bangkok, she worked as a cashier at the Landmark Hotel for a year, received a tourist guide certificate in 1990 and worked as an English language tourist guide for several years. Her previous job was an executive secretary for the managing director of ChevronTexaco in Thailand in 2000. She has since been traveling and freelancing as a Thai-English instructor and interpreter. She enjoys traveling, learning, and speaking many languages. In addition to Thai, she speaks English and some German and Chinese. She is currently studying horoscope and Feng Shui (the Chinese balance energy).

Kati is a lawyer with a Ph.D. in Law from the London School of Economics. She is currently working as an independent legal consultant and pursuing post-doc research on climate change and the WTO at the Erik Castrén Institute of International Law and Human Rights. She has several years of experience on the carbon markets, climate policy and the UNFCCC negotiations.