John Matthews (United States)
John Matthews
John has coordinated freshwater climate adaptation work for WWF’s global network since 2007. He currently supports WWF staff all over the world as an internal consultant to increase the climate resilience of freshwater conservation and economic development programs. Externally, his work also spans policy through negotiations with international institutions such as the Ramsar Convention and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. John tries to consolidate and spread the lessons of emerging best practices for freshwater climate adaptation from WWF staff to groups such as the World Bank, government development agencies, and key NGO partners.
In his capacity as a climate adaptation specialist, he has been asked to advise other NGOs, think tanks, and government agencies on climate adaptation practice and policy. Prior to joining WWF, John had a postdoctoral fellowship with the US Geological Survey as a conservation biologist. John obtained his PhD in ecology, evolution, and behavior through a series of experimental and field studies on long-distance dragonfly and bird migration at the University of Texas. He studied cultural anthropology and the ethnomusicology of the African diaspora as an undergraduate at the University of Chicago. Between these two degrees, John worked for twelve years in the publishing industry as a nonfiction editor, writer, and marketer. He continues to write and publish scientific articles since coming to WWF, and tries to tell a more personal version of the story of climate adaptation on his blog ClimateChangeWater.org. When he manages to be home in Oregon, he enjoys hiking, swimming, and brewing beer.
If you are interested in John’s work, check out this report he co-authored on adapting water management that contextualizes his work and emphasizes the interconnectivity of water quality and quantity for both human communities and ecosystems in the face of climate change. Here is a video of John speaking to a high-level ministerial and multi-national panel during August 2009 about how we can approach water management moving forward.
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Notes from Copenhagen COP 15 – (December 7 – 24, 2009)
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