ANNOUNCING OUR FOURTH SDG COMPETITION JUDGE

We are delighted to announce Pamela Marie Collins as a judge on the independent panel for the Global Social Leaders Sustainable Development Goal Competition.

This competition challenges teams of young people around the world to create positive social change through student-led initiatives, designed to address one of more of the United Nations’ 17 global goals; to eradicate extreme poverty, end climate change and eliminate inequality by 2030.

I lead Conservation International’s work on Nature and the Global Sustainability Agenda, where I seek to bridge the gap between what we know about connections between nature and human well-being and what we do when we implement sustainable development projects on the ground.

Before joining CI, I was a AAAS Fellow at the Institute for Water Resources of the US Army Corps of Engineers, where I advised leadership on topics from ecosystem restoration to green infrastructure.

My PhD at EPFL in Switzerland used computational modeling and geospatial analysis to explore the human and natural drivers of European vegetation change since the end of the last ice age. I earned a dual BA in Ecology and Environmental Studies from Dartmouth College, where I studied Antarctic soil microbial communities and conducted fieldwork in Central America/the Caribbean and southern Africa.

Between degrees, I have served as an outreach ranger in Sequoia National Park and a hut-keeper in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Before coming to DC for the AAAS Fellowship, I trained as a consultant in Paris and coordinated international academic partnerships at the Swiss consulate in Boston.

I also volunteer on the boards of the DC chapters of the Society for Conservation Biology and the American Water Resources Association. When I’m not doing all of that, I spend my time outdoors hiking, skiing, surfing, cycling, and climbing.

Pamela Collins, Associate Scientist, Nature and the Global Sustainability Agenda for Conservation International

SDG JUDGE

Pamela Collins, Conservation International

GSL Sustainable Development Goal Competition

Launched in 2017 Future Foundations are running two GSL SDG competitions this academic year, open to young people globally. The first of these if for COBIS students and the second for students of all schools. We have been overwhelmed with entries from around the world from Romaina, to Kazakhstan and Venezuela.

Our judges will have a tough job to agree on a winner with an incredible quality of project proposals submitted, which is indicative of the strong sense of participants’ collective social responsibility and global perspective. Empowered to find local solutions to issues as wide ranging as gender equality, health, work and economic growth young people are demonstrating a complex understanding of the 17 global goals, how they interconnect and relate to our everyday lives.

The winners of the competition will be announced by Future Foundations later this year. The winning team from each competition will be invited to attend a Global Social Leaders Catalyst Programme and the opportunity to participate in the GSL World Summit, a 14 day transformational leadership programme in August 2018, for a discounted rate.