Staff & Committees
Impacting bird conservation across the Western Hemisphere
Staff
Amy Gambrill – Executive Director
Amy Gambrill brings more than 25 years of experience advancing conservation initiatives in the United States and worldwide to Road to Recovery. Most recently, she managed a portfolio of U.S. Government–funded natural resource management, resilience, water, and climate programs across Africa, Latin America, and Asia. She has also developed strategies for the BirdReturns program to build awareness for the protection of migratory bird habitat in California’s Central Valley. Amy’s earlier work includes elephant reintroductions in Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique and community engagement efforts in Eastern High Atlas National Park in Morocco.
Email: amy.gambrill@georgetown.edu
Katie Krafte Holland, PhD – Lead Social Scientist
Katie is a conservation social scientist and Associate Research Professor in the Earth Commons Institute for the Environment and Sustainability at Georgetown University. Her research focuses on the human dimensions of conservation, including protected area management, community engagement, human-wildlife interactions, private lands conservation, and strategic conservation planning. Katie’s work has taken her to six continents, where she has explored the diverse opportunities and challenges of conservation management and the need for integrated approaches to solve complex environmental issues.
Katie has served as the Lead Social Scientist for the R2R initiative since 2022. She brings a deep passion for both people and wildlife to this work, emphasizing that humans are a vital part of conservation success. Through R2R, Katie applies human dimensions strategies to support the recovery of Tipping Point Species and advance collaborative, people-centered conservation.
Esmeralda Bravo Hernández – International Partnerships Coordinator
Esmeralda is a Mexican biologist specialized in environmental management, with a master’s degree in Marine Science. In Mexico, she coordinated multi-sector collaborations to restore seabird colonies and co-developed Action Plans for endemic species on Mexican islands. She has also contributed to conservation projects in the Channel Islands, the Gulf of Maine, and along the coasts of California and Oregon.
At R2R, Esmeralda fosters cross-cultural partnerships and helps strengthen the initiative’s connections across Latin America and the Caribbean. Her work supports international collaboration, inclusive engagement, and knowledge exchange across regions. She welcomes opportunities to support international collaboration and to strengthen conservation partnerships in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Email: eb1573@georgetown.edu
Graduate Fellow
This position is currently open.
Emily Siegel – Project Manager
Emily joins R2R after earning a Master’s of Environmental Management from Duke University. While in graduate school, she managed a research team that used conservation technology to monitor orphaned African elephants. Her passion for connecting communities with science spans from field work in Zambia to facilitating a community biodiversity monitoring project in Oaxaca, Mexico. She not only brings experience from a project management perspective, but also from first-hand fieldwork (including breeding bird surveys with the National Parks Service in Idaho!).
At R2R, Emily oversees the regranting process while providing programmatic, administrative, and organizational support. She looks forward to connecting with and supporting groups working to protect Tipping Point Species.
Email: emily.siegel@georgetown.edu
Contact Road to Recovery staff with your questions and to be added to our email list: r2r@georgetown.edu
Collaboration is Critical to Our Success
Photo: Tim Romano
Road to Recovery Partnerships
Collaborations with diverse conservation initiatives like Partners in Flight (PIF) and the North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI) are critical to our success. R2R works closely with established PIF working groups to assess species vulnerability and urgency, understand science gaps, increase social science capacity, and advance the efforts of species working groups. Likewise, R2R collaborates with NABCI’s sub-committees to strategically meet conservation targets across the full annual cycle, advance human dimensions and address environmental justice issues as they relate to bird conservation.
Leadership Council
The Leadership Council brings together experts from across the conservation community. Members meet monthly with staff to share updates, help guide R2R’s direction, and communicate Road to Recovery priorities back to their organizations and networks.
Humberto Berlanga – Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad
Susan Bonfield – Environment for the Americas
Miyoko Chu – Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Marcel Gahbauer – Environment and Climate Change Canada
Jim Giocomo – American Bird Conservancy
Osvel Hinojosa-Huerta – Coastal Solutions Fellows Program
Edwin Juarez – Arizona Game and Fish Department
Peter Marra – Georgetown University
Ken Rosenberg – Cornell Lab of Ornithology (retired)
Kristen Ruegg – Colorado State University
Paul Schmidt – U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Ducks Unlimited, Inc., Road to Recovery (retired)
Elizabeth Schueler – Manoment
Jaime Stephens – Klamath Bird Observatory
Becky Stewart– Environment and Climate Change Canada
Bradley Wilkinson – U.S. North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI)
Chad Wilsey – National Audubon Society
Core Team
The Core Team is a small, nimble group that meets regularly to provide strategic guidance and support major decision-making, help shape organizational direction, and work closely with staff to advance high-level initiatives.
Katie Christie – Alaska Department of Fish and Game
Nathan Cooper – Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center
Peter Marra – Georgetown University
Ken Rosenberg – Cornell Lab of Ornithology (retired)
Brandt Ryder – Bird Conservancy of the Rockies
Paul Schmidt – U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Ducks Unlimited, Inc., Road to Recovery (retired)
Jeff Walters – Virginia Tech
Tom Will – U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (retired)
International Subcommittee
The International Committee of Road to Recovery (R2R) fosters collaboration with partners across Latin America and the Caribbean to support the full life-cycle conservation of migratory and resident bird species. The committee brings together professionals from across the hemisphere to share knowledge, identify priorities, and promote inclusive, science-based recovery efforts.
Since 2024, the committee has held joint meetings with the International Committee of NABCI, strengthening coordination and advancing shared goals for bird conservation across the Americas and the Caribbean..
Adrianne Tossas – BirdsCaribbean
Ancilleno Davis – University of The Bahamas; Science and Perspective
Anna Lello-Smith – Wildlife Conservation Society, Mesoamerica & Western Caribbean
Humberto Berlanga – Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad
Isadora Angarita-Martínez – Manomet
Jajean Rose-Burney – Jocotoco Conservation Fundation
Juliana Bosi de Almeida – Manomet
Lisa Sorenson – BirdsCaribbean
Natalia Martinez Curci – Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas
y Técnicas)
Mary Whitfield – Southern Sierra Research Station
Rosabel Miró Rodríguez – Panama Audubon Society
Sarahy Contreras Martinez – University of Guadalajara
Steve Albert – Institute for Bird Populations
Yenifer Díaz – Panama Audubon Society