OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Dror Ben-Ami
Centre for Compassionate Conservation
Dror Ben-Ami
Dr. Dror Ben-Ami has been involved in environmental activities for nearly 20 years. Ben-Ami earned his bachelor of arts from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and his master’s and doctorate in ecology from the University of New South Wales, Australia. His dissertations were on the eastern grey kangaroo in northwestern New South Wales and on the life history of the swamp wallaby and peri-urban adaptive wildlife management. Ben-Ami was a research assistant at the University of New South Wales; a lecturer in conservation biology at the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, Israel; and a postdoctoral research fellow at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel. He is the co-founder of THINKK, the think tank for kangaroos, at the University of Technology, Sydney, Australia, where he works as a research fellow. Ben-Ami also co-founded and is a lead researcher at the Centre for Compassionate Conservation at the University of Technology, Sydney.
Hadas Dabas
Yale University
Hadas Dabas
Hadas is a Ph.D. student in the genetics department at Yale University, studying neuroscience. She got her Bachelor of Science in biology at Tel Aviv University, and has conducted research on biodiversity at Stanford University and on head and neck cancer at the University of California San Francisco. Hadas has counseled gap-year volunteers working with youth at risk, promoting equal opportunity and social mobility via informal education and after-school enrichment programs. Hadas is currently active in a science communication initiative (SITN) and on a committee to increase social equity in genetics research (GenERA), and mentors women undergraduates in STEM through the Women in Science at Yale (WISAY).
Darrell Erb Jr.
Harmony Foundation of Canada
Darrell Erb Jr.
Darrell Erb Jr. worked for 23 years in Oregon’s least affluent communities, where he experienced first-hand the crippling effects of generational poverty on students. Erb worked as a teacher and later as an administrator alongside dedicated colleagues to create safe, welcoming, and effective schools to empower students to rise above their daily struggles and gain the ability to dream and live fruitful, happy lives. Between stints in education, Erb served as Executive Director of the Tommy E. Short Charitable Foundation, working with the Earth Council Alliance and alongside environmental leaders in the Americas, Europe, and China to establish strategic local partnerships for the environment. Later, he joined the Harmony Foundation of Canada to develop and implement the Leadership Training Program for Sustainable Community Development in China. Erb holds a BA in Secondary Education from Western Oregon University and an M.Ed. from George Fox University.
Deborah Goldberg
University of Michigan
Deborah Goldberg
Deborah E. Goldberg is the Arthur Thurnau Professor Emerita and Margaret B. Davis Distinguished University Professor Emerita in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Michigan, where she served as associate chair and chair for a total of 15 years, and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Arizona. Her research in plant community ecology has been recognized by her election as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Fellow of the Ecological Society of America, and Vice President for Science for the Ecological Society of America. Current research foci include the integration of community and ecosystem processes in plant invasions, the role of clonality in species interactions and community dynamics, and effects of climate change on alpine plant communities. Professor Goldberg has worked actively as a faculty member and department chair to increase recruitment and retention and improve the climate for under-represented groups, and she has received multiple awards for her diversity and inclusion work at the University of Michigan.
Clive G. Jones
Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies
Clive G. Jones
Dr. Clive G. Jones is an Emeritus Senior Scientist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, New York. A research ecologist, he has studied how species affect the physical environment—ecosystem engineering—including how they create habitats and affect biodiversity. Recognized as the founder of this now large and rapidly growing field of basic and applied research, he is the author of over two hundred publications, including six books. An elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, his other awards and honours include a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Blaise Pascal International Research Chair and a Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Visiting Professorship. He has served on numerous international advisory boards and panels.
Guy Milhalter
Pearl Cohen
Guy Milhalter
Guy Milhalter is a partner in the Corporate Group in Pearl Cohen’s New York office.
Tom Murtha
Preventable Surprises
Tom Murtha
At Preventable Surprises, Thomas (Tom) Murtha focuses on forceful stewardship, asserting the rights investors have as owners to engage corporations to reduce the systemic risks of climate disruption, biodiversity loss, and other impacts that compromise the resilience of nature. After an earlier career as an institutional investor at T. Rowe Price Associates and later one at The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Tom works to help business reduce environmental impacts and become more regenerative. Post-TNC, Tom also advises pensions and endowments and is an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s Earth Institute Center for Environmental Sustainability. A resident of Norfolk, Connecticut and NYC, Tom also serves on the advisory boards of Climate and Forest Capital and the Alliance for a Viable Future.
Jack Platt
Jack Platt
Jack M. Platt, CPA, is a trustee of Friends of the Arava Institute and a longtime supporter of environmental causes.
John Yonazi Salehe
John Yonazi Salehe
More than four and a half decades of broad on-the-ground conservation experience in eastern Africa. Graduate of the University of Dar es Salaam and Australian National University. Very active conservation guardian, who chairs a number of boards of directors for conservation NGOs in East Africa. These include community forest and wildlife conservation, transboundary initiatives, and networks such as the Albertine Rift Conservation Society, Nature Tanzania – Birdlife, Community Wildlife Management Areas Consortium of Tanzania, and Tanzania Association of Foresters. John is based in Arusha, Tanzania.
Tauni Sauvage
Executive Director at TiME
Tauni Sauvage
Tauni spent more than ten years working for The Nature Conservancy where she served as Associate Director of Philanthropy for Corporate and Foundation Relations in the California chapter, Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations and, most recently, Director of Philanthropy for the Asia Pacific region. Prior to joining The Nature Conservancy, Tauni was the Chief Marketing Strategist/Corporate Brand Manager for Educational Testing Service, a nonprofit organization that develops and administers educational assessments such as the SAT. Tauni also founded and managed the Sauvage Marketing Group, an advertising agency that included such clients as Microsoft, Intel and Pacific Gas & Electric. She received her B.A., J.D. and M.B.A. from the University of California.
Uri Shanas
CEO and founder of TiME
Uri Shanas
Uri Shanas received a PhD in zoology from Tel Aviv University in 1996. After completing a postdoctoral fellowship at Columbia University, he joined the Department of Biology and Environment at the University of Haifa–Oranim, Israel, where he served as head of department between 2009 and 2013. Prof. Shanas has published over 50 papers in scientific peer-reviewed journals. He was a visiting academic at Massey University, New Zealand, in 2007 and at Portland State University in the 2014/15 academic year. Shanas co-established the Israel Union for Environmental Defense and serves on the governmental Israel Nature and Parks Authority. He leads the expert committee of Israel’s Green Movement Party and has served on various committees including the board of directors of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme and the Long Term Social and Ecological Research Network.
Contact: [email protected]
Nadja Zoi Zaouri
National Technical University of Athens
Nadja Zoi Zaouri
Nadja’s path began with service learning and research, notably at the Attica Zoological Park in Greece and the Gaia Project. Passion for nature-inspired engineering and sustainability led her to conduct various biomimicry projects, two of which were awarded (Climathon EIT Climate-KIC Piraeus 2021 and Piraeus Blue Hackathon Day 2022). Her commitment to making a positive impact extended to fundraising initiatives for Wildlife Alliance and volunteering at the ARCHELON Sea Turtle Rescue Center. Nadja’s interest in knowledge-sharing and innovation led her to participate in the organization of the TEDxNTUA annual event, collaborating with diverse speakers and audiences. Currently, she is pursuing a degree in Applied Mathematical and Physical Sciences at the National Technical University of Athens.