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Krista is an interdisciplinary researcher, with a PhD in Public Policy and Administration, environmental and natural resource emphasis; an MBA; a Master’s Degree in physiology; and a biology undergraduate research degree. Her experience includes wildlife policy analysis and consultancy, as an expert on the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the U.S. federal rulemaking ESA listing process; scientific research using the scientific method and inductive research methodology; SWOT analysis, cost-benefit analysis, and non-profit volunteer upper management; and as an educator, across levels, including at the undergraduate and graduate level. She believes that instilling a connection to nature and fostering a love of nature at a young age through education is essential for the recovery and protection of nature moving forward. As part of her coursework while pursuing her PhD, Krista mapped GPS data from collared elephants in Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique, to better understand the Gorongosa elephants’ crop-raiding behavior while analyzing available elephant crop-raiding mitigation/deterrent strategies.
More recently, as a core member of the IUCN Commission on Ecosystem (CEM) Rewilding Thematic Group (RTG), Krista helped develop and edit the IUCN Rewilding Guidelines which were launched at the IUCN World Conservational Congress 2025, held in Abu Dhabi this past October. Additionally, she is a member of the International Wildlife Conservation Network (IWCN) Coexistence Council and the Ambassador for the Wood River Wolf Project, advocating for the use of non-lethal mitigation tools as a proven successful strategy for wolf coexistence. She is also involved with efforts to relist the Northern Rocky Mountain wolf population and to keep other Lower 48 wolf populations, as well as Grizzly Bears, listed under the ESA. Krista lives in Idaho and enjoys hiking and walking in the Foothills of the Rocky Mountains with her lab, Clyde, photography, birding, and skiing and snowshoeing.