Sustainability and resilience expert Laura Feinstein to lead the SFEI Resilient Landscapes Program

The San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) is excited to announce Laura Feinstein as the new Director of the Resilient Landscapes Program. Laura brings many years of experience at the science-policy interface and a love for the natural and urban communities of the San Francisco Bay Area and Delta region.  As Director, she will lead SFEI’s interdisciplinary Resilient Landscapes team of 30+ staff with an annual budget of over $5 million.

Laura most recently was the Sustainability and Resilience Policy Director for SPUR, the Bay Area public policy think-tank dedicated to developing solutions to the big problems cities face. At SPUR she worked closely with Bay Area government and community leaders to develop equitable approaches to curb carbon emissions, clean up pollution, and prepare for possible disasters fueled by climate change.

“I’m honored to further SFEI’s mission to deliver visionary and usable science to resolve environmental and climate challenges in the Bay Area and the Delta communities.” said Feinstein. “I look forward to helping to restore and safeguard this beautiful place that we all love.”

In her prior work at the Pacific Institute, Laura led work on drought resilience and the human right to water. While at the California Council on Science and Technology, she developed recommendations for science-informed regulations of the oil and gas industry.

Laura brings a deep commitment to the needs of underserved communities. She recognizes that new approaches to resource management need to restore the health of natural ecosystems and frontline communities alike. She is an accomplished science communicator and regularly speaks with the media about water, energy, sea level rise, and climate issues.

Laura served as a Science and Technology Fellow with the California Senate Committee on Environmental Quality and was a Bay-Delta Science Fellow. She holds a B.A. in Anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley and a Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of California, Davis.