Ellie Cohen

President and CEO

President and CEO of Point Blue Conservation Science since 1999. Ellie is a leader in catalyzing collaborative, nature-based solutions to climate change and environmental degradation. She and Point Blue’s 160+ scientists work hand-in-hand with public and private natural resource managers to reduce impacts of changes in climate, land use and the ocean, while developing climate-smart solutions for wildlife and people.  [Read about their collaborative accomplishments here.]

Born in Baltimore, Ellie received her undergraduate degree with honors in Botany from Duke University. Field studies in butterfly ecology brought her to California. She later received her Master in Public Policy degree from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, where she was honored with the Policy Analysis Exercise Award for highly distinguished performance and the first annual Robert F. Kennedy Public Service Award. In 2001, she was awarded a fellowship to Stanford Graduate School of Business’ Executive Program for Non-profit Leaders.

Ellie is the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Observer Organization representative for Point Blue [see more at her blog here]. She is an invited member of the National Adaptation Forum‘s Steering Committee and the California Adaptation Forum‘s Advisory Committee. She is Immediate Past Chair and a Steering Committee member of the CA Landscape Conservation Cooperative, invited member of the SF Bay Area’s Resilient by Design Research Advisory Committee, and co-founder of the Bay Area Ecosystems Climate Change Consortium. She also served as Chair of both the Central Valley and SF Bay Joint Ventures, among other partnership leadership roles.

An invited member of the National Wildlife Federation’s (NWF) Climate-Smart Conservation team, Ellie co-authored the climate-smart conservation principles and the communications chapter in the national “Guide to Climate-Smart Conservation, Putting Adaptation Principles into Practice” (2014).

Ellie was honored with the Bay Nature 2012 Environmental Hero Award for her climate change leadership. In 2009, she was named one of “100 Women Taking the Lead to Save Our Planet” in the US (National Women’s History Project).

Ellie and her family live in San Anselmo, California with 2 kids, 2 dogs and 2 cats (indoors, of course!). They enjoy birding, hiking, biking, Broadway musicals, science fiction, historical fiction and baseball.

See Ellie’s keynote at the EFM’s ocean symposium here: Cohen – Protecting our Oceans- Pollution to Solutions Apr 25 2018 EFM Keynote FIN1

Read and sign up for Ellie’s Ecology and Climate Change News blog here