Sara Mascola

Sara Mascola is the Deputy Director of the Nature Conservancy’s Global Protect Oceans, Lands, and Waters program. Sara supports TNC’s global protection strategies to conserve an ecologically representative, effectively managed, durable, equitable and inclusive 30% of the planet. She plays a key leadership role in advancing TNC’s ambitious global protection conservation portfolio, including TNC’s collaboration on Enduring Earth, the Nature Bonds Program, and Transformative Management and Protection pathways. She also supports development of emerging protection initiatives and oversees conservation strategies and cross-cutting support programs to deliver TNC's signature protection programs and projects.

Sara has 20+ years of experience developing and managing conservation projects across three continents as a conservation expert with experience in a wide range of protection tools, mitigation planning and biodiversity offsets, renewable energy siting, and land use policies. A 15-year veteran of TNC, Sara has also held management and strategy roles within TNC’s India program, Energy and Infrastructure program, and Corporate Engagement teams. She started in conservation as a community-based environmental management Peace Corps volunteer in the dry forests of northern Peru and a seasonal field naturalist in a tiger reserve and national park in central India. She has a Master's degree in Natural Resource Management from Virginia Tech and a Bachelor's degree in Political Science from Clemson University.