About - International Wildlife Conservation, National Wildlife Federation

What We Do

International Wildlife Conservation is the international program of the National Wildlife Federation. With over 40 years of experience, the International Wildlife Conservation program combines expertise in the fields of natural resource economics, remote sensing and GIS, international law, and tropical ecology to advance market-based solutions, public policy, and public-private collaborations to support win-win’s for agribusiness, people, and the planet.

We focus on the commodities that have the greatest impacts on forests and people, such as beef, leather, soy, palm oil, and cacao. Our work also focuses on advancing strong and comprehensive international agreements that protect the climate.

Who We Are

Sarah Laskin

Vice President for National and International Conservation Programs

Sarah Laskin serves as the Vice President for National and International Conservation Programs at the National Wildlife Federation, leading the organization’s work to implement national and international programs in the cause of conservation and to integrate these with regional program work. Laskin is an accomplished leader and facilitator with over 20 years of experience working with nonprofit organizations on global programs in conservation, science, public engagement, and storytelling.
Prior to joining the National Wildlife Federation, Laskin spent 16 years at the National Geographic Society in their Science and Exploration Programs. There she served as senior vice president and chief operating officer for Science and Exploration. Prior to joining National Geographic in 2000, Laskin spent five years working on ocean, coastal, and fishery policy issues in the Clinton Administration.
Laskin has a master’s degree from Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment and a bachelor’s degree from Harvard.

Barbara Bramble

Vice President for International Conservation and Corporate Strategies

Barbara serves as the Vice President of International Wildlife Conservation and Corporate Strategies at NWF, leading NWF’s international advocacy to address climate change and commodities which drive deforestation. She is the immediate past Chair of the International Board of the Forest Stewardship Council, the preeminent eco-label for wood and paper products from sustainably managed forests, and formerly chaired the Board of Directors of the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials, which is the equivalent certification organization for biofuels and bio-based products. Before joining NWF, she served as legal advisor to the White House Council on Environmental Quality, and as an environmental lawyer in private practice. Barbara earned a J.D. from George Washington University, and a B.A. from George Mason University. Barbara has lived in Latin America for almost 5 years and speaks both Spanish and Portuguese.

Nathalie Walker

Senior Director

Nathalie Walker, Ph.D., is Senior Director, Tropical Forest and Agriculture at the National Wildlife Federation (NWF). She has over 15 years of experience in researching and addressing drivers of tropical deforestation, working for the NWF, the Global Canopy Programme and Oxford University’s Department of International Development. Although she started her career working in tropical forests, recognizing that the greatest threats to forests often lie far outside of them, Dr. Walker has focused her work in recent years on the private sector, civil society and government initiatives to reduce deforestation.

Francisco Beduschi

NWF Lead in Brazil

Francisco works to engage the private sector and obtain commitments toward a sector-wide solution for more responsible sourcing. He is based in Cuiabá, Mato Grosso, Brazil, and built his career working for the agribusiness companies, financial sector, cooperatives, and as a consultant. Since 2013 he has worked with sustainable development, especially at soy and beef markets, and participates at the Round Table for Responsible Soy – RTRS and both the Brazilian and Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef – GTPS and GRSB. Francisco graduated Agronomist in 1995, MBA in Agribusiness Market in 2000, both at ESALQ – USP, and Environmental Leadership Program at University of California, Berkeley, in 2015.

Luana Luna

Senior Coordinator

Luana is the Senior Coordinator, International Communications and Outreach. She leads the communications strategy and engages with a range of international partners to provide communication support in their responsible sourcing journey, especially in the Brazilian Amazon and the Brazilian Cerrado. She also disseminates the progress and impact of our work via media and social media channels. Before joining National Wildlife Federation, Luana worked as a journalist at the Brazilian Congress, a photo editor for Conservation International, and a communication consultant for non-profits. She has a master’s degree in Environmental Management and a bachelor’s degree in Social Communications and Journalism.

Blanca Gonzalez Herrero

Senior Coordinator

Blanca supports the project Amazonia Connect, which encourages more sustainable agricultural commodity supply chains in the Amazon rainforest. She serves as a liaison with our partners in Brazil, Colombia, and Peru and coordinates the promotion and adoption of advanced deforestation monitoring and traceability systems. Blanca holds a B.S. in Zoology and has over five years of experience working as a wildlife biologist. Before joining NWF, she coordinated several scientific initiatives to promote conservation-based economies and integrate inclusive technology into conservation efforts.

Rodrigo Dias Lopes

Agribusiness and Livestock Specialist

Rodrigo Dias Lopes works engaging beef companies in Brazil to support more responsible sourcing. He began his career working in large supply companies for the agribusiness sector as well as in some of the largest meatpackers in the world, and has over 7 years of experience in sustainable cattle ranching in the Amazon region. Rodrigo trained as a zootechnician and graduated from the University Gammon in Paraguaçu Paulista, São Paulo, Brazil.

Paula Durruty

Corporate Engagement Specialist

Paula Durruty is the Corporate Engagement Specialist for Paraguay, based out of Asunción. She is responsible for providing support for collaborative efforts with the private and public sector in Paraguay to support more responsible sourcing in the beef value chain. An agricultural engineer with specialized studies in project development and management and land policy for sustainable rural development, she has more than 12 years of experience working with the Paraguayan government in terms of coordination of the public and private sectors. She was also a key collaborator and negotiator in international agreements and treaties and supported the development of laws, decrees, and resolutions regarding sustainability for Paraguay.

Larissa Ikeda

Corporate Engagement Specialist

Larissa engages the private sector in the beef supply chain in Brazil, especially meatpackers in the Amazon and Cerrado biomes. She is based in Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil and for seven years, she has been working in environmental projects, including supporting regularization of rural properties and ensuring compliance with the Brazilian Forest Code, using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and remote sensing images. Larissa is a geographer and graduated from UNESP – São Paulo State University with postgraduate studies at UFSCar – Federal University of São Carlos in Environmental Management.

Iago Mendes

Technical Consultant

Iago works to provide technical support in the development, implementation, and improvement of tools that help monitor the Brazilian cattle supply chain and provide corresponding recommendations to agribusiness companies. Based in Lavras, Minas Gerais, Brazil, he has experience with geospatial data analysis and developing web-based GIS applications focused on forest monitoring in the Brazilian Amazon. He holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in forest engineering with a specialization in forest management from the Federal University of Lavras, Brazil.

Supplemental information about our grants.

Supplemental information about our partners and contractors.