USBN Welcomes Sarah Gaines

Sarah Gaines is a Co-Chair of the USBN Steering Committee.

Co-Chair Sarah Gaines is a Coastal Research Associate specializing in Climate Resilience, Conservation, and Sustainable Development at the Coastal Resources Center, Graduate School of Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island. She has degrees in Earth Sciences from Princeton University and the University of Cape Town. In her previous role at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, she worked in the MAB Secretariat, developed the Earth Science Education Initiative in Africa and contributed to th eestablishment of UNESCO Global Geoparks.

Through her work balancing conservation and sustainable livelihood demands around the world, Sarah has focused on natural and cultural heritage conservation, spatial planning and the science - policy interface. She serves on the US Advisory Group on Geoheritage and Geoparks, the Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE) and the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas Geoheritage Specialist Group. Acting locally, Sara is on the boards of the Rhode Island Natural History Survey and the Narrow River Preservation Association.