Leah is a published poet and human ecologist. Her interest in sea level rise and climate change adaptation is rooted in her studies at College of the Atlantic, where she earned a master’s degree in human ecology and a bachelor's degree in human ecology, with a strong applied emphasis on conservation biology and ecology and environmental law & policy. She focused her field work on island/wetland ecology and land conservation. She has ten years of experience in natural resources planning and conservation, writing about environmental programs, and 15 years of experience working with nonprofit organizations, where she has worn several different hats—including a Smokey the Bear “Stetson” at Acadia National Park.  She volunteered on a USGS watershed mapping study and wrote conservation plans for ANP while in graduate school. Leah focused her Master's thesis on land trust collaboration, gaining expertise in collaborative work groups (coalition-building, partnerships, peer-mentoring, mergers). Leah is also a member of the adjunct faculty at Southern Maine Community College and a member of the Lakes Region Writers Guild. She lives in the lakes region of southern Maine with her rescue gundog, Sophie-Bea, and two funny cats. Find her wetland poetry and "Strange Wetlands" posts at http://aswm.org/wordpress 

I direct the freshwater climate change program at Conservation International.

I work on freshwater climate adaptation policy, practice, and adaptation science. I also run http://climatechangewater.org and http://AdaptationAction.org.