Kristen Wilson

Ecologist
Terrestrial
[email protected]

In The Nature Conservancy’s California Chapter, Kristen focuses on watershed planning and monitoring of restoration projects in the Sierra Nevada and Cascades. To inform investments in land protection and restoration, she applies spatial models, solicits stakeholder input, assesses cost-effectiveness and quantifies the impact of these conservation actions on ecosystem services.  She also manages a meadow restoration study to evaluate the impact of beaver dam analogues and grazing management on carbon storage, streamflow, and habitat for two threatened species.  

Prior to working at the Conservancy, Kristen contributed to environmental and natural history stories for the photo-editing department of National Geographic magazine. She holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Planning at the University of California, Berkeley focusing on stream restoration, an M.S. in Environmental Science and Policy from Johns Hopkins University, and a B.A. in Ecology and Geography from Dartmouth College. 


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2017 | Terrestrial | Planning | Publications & Reports

Regional Prioritization for Forest Restoration across California's Sierra Nevada

Rodd Kelsey, Edward Smith, Tanushree Biswas, Chris McColl, Kristen Wilson, Dick Cameron

This report provides a systematic regional-scale assessment of biodiversity, fire regime change, and fire risk to infrastructure of forested watersheds across the Sierra Nevada and prioritizes watersheds for forest restoration where the greatest risk reduction to biodiversity and human infrastructure can be achieved. For priority…



2017 | Freshwater | Terrestrial | Planning | Publications & Reports

Informing watershed planning and policy in the Truckee River basin through stakeholder engagement, scenario development, and impact evaluation

Kristen Wilson, Erik Lowe, Stacey Wolny, Barry Nickel , Rodd Kelsey

This study demonstrates how science-based planning with stakeholder input can improve and direct conservation investments across existing state and jurisdictional boundaries. The authors set out to help direct the type, amount, and location of conservaiton investments in the Truckee River watershed in the Sierra Nevada…