Nicole Silk © The Nature Conservancy The Global Freshwater Team Brian Richter, Co-leader Nicole Silk, Co-leader David Harrison, Senior Advisor  Karin Krchnak, Director of International Water Policy Eloise Kendy, Director, Environmental Flows Program Andrew Warner, Senior Advisor for Water Management Robert Wigington, Western Water Policy Counsel Tom FitzHugh, Water Management Analyst Jeff Opperman, Technical Advisor for Water Management Diédre Paterno Pai, Outreach Manager Sharon Davis, Program Coordinator

Nicole Silk
Co-leader
Global Freshwater Team

Nicole Silk is co-leader of The Nature Conservancy's Global Freshwater Team.  Her role is to align this program with organizational priorities and processes, provide strategic direction and vision as well as managerial support, and help the Conservancy fulfill its role as the world’s leading freshwater conservation organization. 

Key strategies of the Global Freshwater Team include providing leadership in the field of environmental flows, supporting innovative conservation financing approaches to link drinking water protection to freshwater conservation, establishing certification schemes to encourage the integration of ecosystem health into hydropower operations and municipal practices, and supporting capacity building and learning for freshwater within the Conservancy. 

Nicole has more than 20 years experience in conservation with positions in wildlife ecology, environmental education, natural resource law, environmental consulting and as a professional river guide.  She has been with the Conservancy for 13 years.  Nicole developed A Practitioner's Guide to Freshwater Biodiversity Conservation published by Island Press in 2005 and has written and contributed to several scholarly scientific and legal papers.  She holds a J.D. in law from the University of California (Davis) (1992) and a B.A. in economics and ecology from the University of California (Santa Cruz) (1986).