Climate Change Adaptation Coordinator
Department: North America Program
University System: Wildlife Conservation Society - Bozeman
Website(s): https://northamerica.wcs.org/about-us/staff/projectid/279.aspx
Professional Summary:
Molly Cross is the Climate Change Adaptation Coordinator for the North America Program of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). Her work focuses on bringing together experts in the fields of climate change, ecology, conservation-planning, and land management to translate broad-brush climate change adaptation strategies into on-the-ground conservation actions. Molly is leading scenario-based climate change planning efforts involving government agencies and diverse stakeholders at several landscapes across North America--including the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, northern U.S. Rockies, and southern Canadian Rockies--focused on a range of targets from individual species to more complex ecosystems. She is the Science Advisor to the WCS Climate Adaptation Fund, a competitive grants program that supports on-the-ground conservation projects that promote wildlife adaptation to climate change. Molly is also involved in several national and regional climate change efforts such as contributing to the U.S. National Climate Assessment; helping the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies provide guidance on incorporating climate change into state wildlife action plans; conducting adaptation planning with the Southwest Climate Change Initiative; and serving on the Steering Committee and Advisory Team for the Great Northern Landscape Conservation Cooperative. She has been researching, writing reports, and coordinating outreach with stakeholder groups on the potential ecological and socioeconomic impacts of climate change in North America for over 14 years. Molly received her Ph.D. in Environmental Science, Policy and Management from the University of California, Berkeley, where she studied ecosystem responses to climate warming and plant diversity loss in the Colorado Rocky Mountains.