Jane "Carter" Ingram

Sustainably managing natural capital and securing the benefits it provides often requires bridging diverse disciplines and sectors. This talk will focus on bridging divides to sustainably manage coastal ecosystems that contribute to storm protection through interdisciplinary, multi-sectoral research collaborations and strategic engagement with private and public sector decision makers.

Jane “Carter” Ingram is a Senior Manager at EY leading a service that supports private and public sector clients in identifying, measuring and valuing natural capital to support sustainable business strategies that generate long-term value, reduce risks, improve efficiencies and create new market opportunities. Prior to EY, Carter established and led the Ecosystem Services program at the Wildlife Conservation Society where she worked closely with field staff, governments, multi-lateral institutions, non-governmental organizations and businesses in Africa, Asia and Latin America to advance conservation and sustainable development based on the multiple benefits that wild places provide to society. At WCS, Carter also helped launch and manage a new boundary institution called the Science for Nature and People Partnership (SNAPP) that catalyzes interdisciplinary, multi-sectoral research and solutions to challenges at the nexus of conservation, development and poverty reduction. Prior to WCS, Carter was a post-doctoral research fellow at the Earth Institute of Columbia University where she researched ways in which natural ecosystems supported livelihoods in Madagascar and resilience in post-tsunami Sri Lanka. Throughout her career, Carter has conducted field research and worked for extended periods in Costa Rica, England, Kenya, Madagascar, Rwanda, the Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and the United States.

Carter has an MS and a PhD from the School of Geography and the Environment, Oxford University and a BS in Biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has presented her work in documentaries and articles, reports and publications. Currently, she co-leads a USGS/SESYNC sponsored international working group on developing a natural capital accounting system for the United States, teaches as an Adjunct Associate Professor at Georgetown University, is a Conservation Fellow at the Wildlife Conservation Society, is on the Science Advisory Committee for the Science for Nature and People Partnership, serves as a steering committee member for the bi-annual Community of Ecosystem Services conference and acts as a Technical Advisory Group member for the UNDP Equator Initiative.