People
Jeffrey Parrish, Freedom to Roam’s Executive Director, is a passionate conservationist who comes to the organization with deep experience in protecting and connecting landscapes for wildlife across the planet. This experience is underpinned by a belief that the diversity of life on Earth is best conserved when a diversity of constituencies – from governments to individuals to corporations – come together to champion the cause of a sustainable planet where animals can move, migrate and adapt to an increasingly warmer, crowded, and disconnected world.
Prior to joining Freedom to Roam, Jeff held several important leadership positions over his 12-year career at The Nature Conservancy, particularly in roles championing international conservation efforts of the organization, conservation science and planning, and development of innovative strategies with businesses. In his role as Global Director of Conservation Planning, and as Technical Director for TNC’s Global Protected Areas Strategy, Jeff worked in more than 50 countries toward the expansion of effectively conserved core protected areas that are ecologically connected in the larger landscape. His most recent position as Global Director for Mediterranean Habitat Conservation brought together such diverse groups as land trusts, academics, government leaders and the wine industry together in a coalition to save one of the world’s least protected and most converted habitat types on 5 different continents.
Jeff also served in the executive role as Vice-President at Manomet Center for Conservation Science, where he managed their conservation programs, led their strategic planning, and helped to expand financial and political support for Manomet’s priorities around the world. He is the recipient of numerous National Science Foundation and American Association for the Advancement of Science fellowships, holds a B.Sc. in Biology from Tulane University, a Ph.D. in Ecology from Brown University, and is fluent in Spanish.
A migration biologist by training, his fascination with animal movement dawned one autumn day on an island off the Atlantic Coast of North America. Holding a blackpoll warbler in his hand, he blew on its belly feathers to expose a thick blanket of fat that this little creature weighing less than half an ounce would use to fuel a 90-hour, non-stop, high altitude flight to its wintering grounds in South America. Looking around at the increasingly fragmented, isolated patch of shrubland on the shores of an ever crowded continent, he opened his fingers to let an endurance feat begin, determined to ensure there would still be room for this and millions of animals like it to continue to roam.
Known affectionately by his Spanish nickname, Jefe lives with his wife and 2 daughters in Denver, Colorado, and is a devoted runner and telemark skier, husband and dad.
Rick Ridgeway, Freedom to Roam’s Board Chairman is currently Patagonia’s Vice President of Environmental Initiatives and Special Media Projects. In this capacity, he oversees the company’s environmental grant-making, internal and external environmental education, and special multi-year environmental projects. Rick also manages Patagonia Productions, the company’s division that publishes books and produces films. Rick is one of the world’s foremost mountaineers and adventurers. Along with three companions, he became the first American to summit K2, considered the hardest mountain in the world to climb, and he has done many other significant climbs and explorations on all of the world’s continents. For fifteen years he was owner and president of Adventure Photo & Film, building it into the world’s most recognized outdoor stock photo and film agency before successfully selling it to focus on writing and filmmaking. At the same time he was active in the outdoor equipment industry, as consultant for Kelty Pack Co. for over 20 years and now at Patagonia, Inc. Rick is well-known for his books and essays, photographs and Emmy award-winning films. He has produced and directed over 30 adventure shows for television. His articles have appeared in Outside, National Geographic and many other magazines. He is the author of six books, including the highly acclaimed Seven Summits, The Shadow of Kilimanjaro and Below Another Sky. Rick lives with his wife, Jennifer, in Ojai, California, and they have three grown children.
Julia Kintsch, Freedom to Roam’s Conservation Science Manager, is a conservation ecologist with over 10 years of experience in applied ecology and conservation planning. Her work focuses on the development of practical and effective science-based solutions to mitigate humanity’s impacts on natural systems. Prior to founding ECO-resolutions, LLC, an ecological resource consulting company, Julia was the program director for the Southern Rockies Ecosystem Project from 2003-2008. In this role she oversaw the Linking Colorado’s Landscapes project, an assessment of high-priority wildlife linkages in Colorado that was designated a 2006 Exemplary Ecosystem Initiative by the Federal Highway Administration. Her work has included wildlife monitoring, small mammal surveys, and conducting ecological assessments to guide natural resource management. Julia has previously worked creating environmental education programs in Senegal, West Africa as a Peace Corps Volunteer, and as a conservation planner for the Michigan Chapter of The Nature Conservancy. She has extensive experience in road ecology and the development of guidelines and recommendations for siting and designing appropriate mitigation measures for wildlife. In pursuing this work, she has forged unique partnerships with Departments of Transportation, as well as collaborations with other federal and state agencies, local municipalities, and non-profit organizations. Julia has organized several road ecology workshops in Colorado and Washington to improve communications and cross-disciplinary interactions among biologists, planners and engineers. She brings a creative and resourceful approach to environmental decision-making, while being committed to the application of the best-available scientific knowledge.
Dr. Gary Tabor, Freedom to Roam’s Conservation Director is a conservation catalyst. He has championed large landscape conservation efforts throughout the world, notably the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (Y2Y). His efforts have increased the conservation capacity of the Wildlife Conservation Society, the African Wildlife Foundation, the Wildlife Trust and numerous other conservation organizations. More recently, Gary established and directed the Wilburforce Foundation’s Yellowstone to Yukon field office in Montana and in 1999 designed one of the first conservation science grant -making programs in western North America. His conservation background includes eight years of international conservation work in East Africa and South America. Trained as a wildlife veterinarian and an ecologist, Gary also co-founded the Consortium for Conservation Medicine, that linked ecology, epidemiology, human and veterinary medicine, and public health. During his career, Gary has served as an adviser to six major private foundations and several bilateral and multilateral donor agencies in the area of environmental philanthropy. Gary is currently the NGO representative on the Board of Governors of the Society for Conservation Biology.
William Singleton is the principal of Singleton Strategies LLC. He brings seventeen years of natural resource policy experience at the local, state, national and international levels. Will was the lead facilitator for the six working groups of the Western Governors’ Association Wildlife Corridors Initiative, and is currently facilitating the Land and Environment Working Group of the WGA Renewable Energy Zones project. Will is a talented process planner: he is able to assess the barriers to achieving an initiative’s objectives and, through cooperation with his client, design a process that meets the needs of the client and its participants while also maintaining the rigor that provides results with long-term legitimacy. Will is a capable facilitator, especially in processes where policy outcomes are the goal. Will is expert at translating technical and scientific issues in a larger policy context. Before moving to Denver, Will worked on Capitol Hill in the US House of Representatives, was congressional liaison for World Wildlife Fund and Congressional and Development Agency director for Conservation International. He was executive director of GLOBE USA, a bipartisan congressional membership organization focusing on global environmental issues, and is a roster member of the US Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution.
Rob Ament, M.Sc., Biological Sciences, has more than 25 years of experience in field ecology, natural resource management, environmental policy, and organizational development. His work experience includes stints as the executive director of American Wildlands, North American conservation coordinator with the Wildlife Conservation Society, and Road Ecology Program Manager at the Western Transportation Institute – Montana State University. He is the treasurer for the Wildlands Project’s board and former chair of the board for the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative. He currently is on an expert panel for the National Academies and on the executive committee of the International Conference on Ecology and Transportation.
Dan Shepherd, Witness for Wildlife Program Director, brings both high-tech and conservation management expertise to Freedom to Roam’s W4W, an initiative that combines citizen science with web-enabled social media. On the high-tech side, Dan founded Allrecipes.com which is the largest food-based social network and the most trafficked food site online. After six years of the crazed life of a dot com entrepreneur, he left the company to pursue other passions, particularly biodiversity conservation. Since then, Dan has worked in horticulture and plant conservation at the Woodland Park Zoo, in Seattle, WA and directed the U.S. Office of Botanic Gardens Conservation International. At BGCI, he spearheaded efforts to develop the North American Botanic Garden Strategy for Plant Conservation and led the rebranding and launch of Plant Conservation Day. Dan holds a MPA in Environmental Science and Policy from Columbia University, a degree in Japanese and Economics from the University of Oregon and holds a diploma in Plant Conservation Techniques from the Royal Botanic Garden, Kew, England.