Catherine Burns
Interim Managing Director, NatureVest
Santa Cruz, California
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Areas of Expertise
Conservation science, impact investing
Biography
Dr. Catherine (Cat) Burns is the Interim Managing Director of NatureVest at The Nature Conservancy. Cat provides strategic leadership, overseeing NatureVest’s Impact Investing Team, post-close Impact Management Team and Financial Advisory Team. Collectively, these teams, under Cat’s guidance, enable NatureVest to offer a broad suite of financial solutions that yield impactful conservation outcomes in alignment with TNC’s 2030 goals. Cat’s leadership is pivotal in advancing the organization's mission by integrating sustainable financial practices and innovative conservation strategies.
Cat joined TNC in 2010 and previously served as managing director, Impact Management for NatureVest, leading a team focused on providing conservation science to inform TNC’s investment partnerships to maximize conservation impact. Cat also previously served as associate director of TNC in California’s Water Program and as the director of science for TNC’s North Carolina Chapter.
Prior to joining TNC, Cat held ecology faculty positions at Duke University and the University of Maine. Cat has lived and worked doing conservation on four continents, including North and South America, Africa and Australia.
Education and Designations:
Publications and Media:
Conservation research: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Ecology, Biodiversity and Conservation, and other scientific journals.
Impact Management: From Intentions to Outcomes
Read Cat's insights in this LinkedIn article: Feb 2024. Here Cat shares some of the lessons learned about what works (and what doesn’t) as NatureVest strives to demonstrate that conservation impact can be achieved alongside financial returns.