Allen Townsend

Allen Townsend, PhD, is a Senior Program Officer specializing in Freshwater Metrics and Stewardship at the World Wildlife Fund since August 2022. In this role, Allen focuses on harmonizing metrics across the Freshwater and Food team initiatives to enhance organizational strategy and impact reporting. Concurrently, as Co-Lead of the Freshwater Hub at the Science Based Targets Network, collaboration with various international organizations aims to create guidance on science-based freshwater targets for corporations. Allen's previous experiences include research at the University of Virginia School of Law on water rights, leadership roles in UNLEASH programs, and various engineering and sustainability positions across organizations such as HCA Healthcare and the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services. Allen holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Behavioral Science for Sustainable Systems from the University of Virginia, alongside a Master of Public Affairs in Water Governance and Policy from the O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs and a degree in Civil Engineering with a focus on Environmental Engineering from Clemson University.