Restore America's Estuaries Summit Examined Critical Conservation Issues

Lora Clarke Officer

Lora Clarke supports Pew’s efforts to improve the adaptation and resilience of coastal ecosystems and human communities in the Southeast United States. In leading Pew’s work on the South Atlantic Salt Marsh Initiative, Clarke focuses on conserving 1 million acres of the important habitat stretching from North Carolina to east central Florida. Previously, Clarke worked to advance sustainable fishing policies in the U.S. south Atlantic.

Alex Clayton Moya Officer

Alex Clayton Moya works to incorporate conservation and restoration of coastal blue carbon and peatland habitats in state and national climate policies for Pew’s U.S. conservation project. She leads efforts to engage primarily with state agencies as they seek to incorporate wetlands into their climate change planning, helping to connect science and research to the policy choices of decision-makers.

Kristiane Huber Officer

Kristiane Huber works to advance state-level climate resilience planning with Pew’s U.S. conservation project. She engages with state and local leaders to develop and enact policy and resilience planning to address disaster risk from flooding, wildfire, drought, and extreme heat. Huber also manages the State Resilience Planning Group, a forum for collaboration among government officials leading statewide resilience initiatives.

Cameron Jaggard Officer

Elizabeth Ruther Officer

Elizabeth Ruther works in the Pacific Northwest to increase landscape resilience to climate change by protecting lands and waters, advancing freshwater connectivity, and promoting climate-ready policy and management. She also has worked to conserve coastal habitats, including estuaries and kelp forests, on the United States’ West Coast and helped lead efforts to elevate the importance of coastal natural climate solutions in Oregon.

Mathew Sanders Senior Officer

Mathew Sanders leads state-level efforts to plan for and build resilience to current and future climate-related disaster impacts for Pew’s U.S. conservation project. In this role, he works directly with state governments and community leaders to advocate for, develop, and implement comprehensive policies and plans for various risks, including floods, wildfires, extreme heat, and droughts.

Sylvia Troost Project Director

Sylvia Troost works on natural climate solutions, with an emphasis on coastal blue carbon and other wetland habitats, resiliency planning, and federal coastal policy, for Pew’s U.S. conservation project. Her portfolio includes advancing nature-based approaches to climate mitigation. She previously supported Pew’s coastal habitat and oceans conservation work through strategic planning, operations and budgets, and campaign management.