Ravi Prabhu is an accomplished scientist who has engaged in multi-disciplinary research and action in forested landscapes for almost 20 years, he earned his professional degree and doctorate in forestry from the University of Goettingen, Germany. 

Ravi was previously a Senior Programme Officer, Forests and Climate Change with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Nairobi. He led the UNEP team that contributed to the UN-REDD Programme – mainly by supporting countries to realize multiple benefits from REDD+, and to use REDD+ as a catalyst to transform to a green economy. Prior to that, he coordinated the Regional Plan for Collective Action in eastern and southern Africa, a joint initiative of CGIAR.  

He has also worked in various capacities at CIFOR-ICRAF. Ravi joined as Deputy Director General (Research) in 2012. He has served on numerous international initiatives and committees, including the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment where he served on the review and editorial team, and the UN Millennium Projects Taskforce 6 on Environmental Sustainability. He received the Queen’s Award for Forestry at Buckingham Palace in 2005. 

Selena is an ethnobotanist with research and outreach interests at the intersection of the ecological, cultural, and health aspects of food systems. The ultimate translational goal of her career is to transform food systems through evidence-based innovations that support human and planetary health. For the past 18 years, Selena has engaged with diverse communities and stakeholders to explore linkages between food environments, nutrition, and health towards informing evidence-based innovations. Selena’s long-term study system is tea agroforestry in China’s Yunnan Province where she has examined effects of agricultural practices and global change on tea biochemical composition, sensory attributes, and farmer livelihoods.

She is the Global Director of the Periodic Table of Food Initiative (PTFI) at the American Heart Association. She joined the PTFI from Montana State University where she is an Associate Professor of Sustainable Food Systems, Director of the Translational Biomarkers Core, and a Principal Investigator of the Food and Health Lab. Selena has served as a consultant for various food and nutrition projects, including to USAID’s Advancing Nutrition activity on market food environments. She brings a transdisciplinary perspective to evaluating food, drawing from postdoctoral training in chemical ecology and human nutrition, a PhD in biology with a focus on plant sciences and phytochemistry, a MSc in ethnobotany, a BA in economics, and experience living in multiple countries.

Selena is the Co-Founder of Shoots & Roots Bitters and co-author of two popular culture books, “Tea Horse Road: China’s Ancient Trade Road to Tibet” and “Botany at the Bar: The Art and Science of Making Bitters” that draw on her botanical adventures.

His current role at USAID is to collaborate with all stakeholders to address climate change concerns in sustainable development across natural systems in order to improve livelihood and living standards where we work.

Dr. Emily Weeks, Senior Policy Advisor in the Bureau of Resilience and Food Security, USAID Washington/Global office. She provides leadership across the Agency in Climate,  Natural Resource Management, Land and Resource Governance, Resilience and Food Security. She has led several key efforts including the Natural Resource Management guidance for the US Government Global Food Security Strategy for Resilience, Climate and Natural Resource Management policy, The Agency guidance on Nature Based Solutions, and the Land and Resource Governance Joint statement. Emily is a co-chair on the Global Donor Working Group for land, USAID representative on the National Climate Assessment 5, committee member on the donor advisor group for Agro-Ecology and committee member on the FAO Fisheries panel. She has also been the agency lead for the IPPC review and in 2019 and  was part of the USG delegation for the IPCC.

She currently leads the Comprehensive Action for Climate Change Initiative (CACCI), a global initiative that supports local organizations to work with key stakeholders at country level to meet NDC and NAP commitments. Prior to joining USAID, she was the co-founder of the National Land Resource Centre, in New Zealand. She was also a program leader and managed over 20 themed collaborative research projects, as well assisted with the development of goals and strategic vision and provided access to key resources for the development and implementation of key policies across New Zealand.  She has conducted research for a range of projects in Oceania, Asia and Africa, including REDD+ Ethiopia, Sustainable Development of Protected Areas System of Ethiopia (SDPASE)  project for the UNDP, and land use planning and ecosystem services in South Africa. She has a PhD in conservation biology and an MSc in Marine Ecology.