Jill Stevenson

Jill has been a generator of ideas and a passionate maker of change in agencies and organizations supporting environmental conservation, education, arts, and outdoor sports. She makes the plan, makes things move, (makes the snacks), does backflips to get it all finished on time, and involves everyone in the progress. Growing up offshore fishing for Atlantic tunas and marlin motivated Jill to use her boundless energy to work toward protecting ocean biodiversity. Twenty years of beekeeping has made her an astute observer of social collaboration and she is inspired by effective communication and collaboration with stakeholders that move organizations and their communities closer to their goals.

Having worked for Federal and State governments and regional and local non-profits, Jill knows that goal-driven results often come from education, whether working with team members, longline fishermen, snowmakers, or farmers. Jill has led initiatives to manage sustainable fisheries for highly migratory species, address uncertainty in science and management, and vanquish invasive species in aquatic and terrestrial systems. Her life has been threatened over swordfish, driftnets, tuna permits, and bycatch. However, winning agency lawsuits using a deep understanding of the legislation, the process, the science and the players has made it all worth it. She has managed programs that tackle the effects of natural variability/climate change on ocean conservation and has also addressed climate change effects on Winter sports athlete development. Whether working in the woods, on the coast, in the city, or in the non-profit Boardroom, Jill is straightforward and candid and communicates easily with a variety of people. She values all voices and personalities and has drawn in those who are less inclined to participate in a process. She has an M.S. in Marine, Estuarine, and Environmental Science from Univ. of Maryland, and a B.A. in Geochemistry from Columbia University. She currently resides in a restored oak woodland in Wisconsin with her family.