Conservation Finance Network Staff
Peter is the Executive Director of the Conservation Finance Network, which seeks to advance land and resource conservation by expanding the use of innovative and effective funding and financing strategies. He has 30 years of experience in the conservation field as a practitioner and funder. As the Open Space Institute’s Executive Vice President for nearly two decades, he helped design, capitalize, and implement multiple land acquisition re-grant and loan funds that facilitated the conservation of 1.5 million acres of land from Maine to Georgia. Previously, he was the inaugural program director for the environment at the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, where he oversaw the distribution of almost $100 million for land conservation in the United States. He also worked as a program officer at the Wallace Funds, designing and implementing an $18 million national initiative focused on creating and improving urban parks in 12 cities across the country. A former award-winning newspaper reporter, he has worked in economic development field and in the communications industry. He has a bachelor’s degree in comparative literature and political philosophy from Wesleyan University where he was awarded Phi Beta Kappa, and an MBA from Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Katie is the Director of Partnerships at the Conservation Finance Network. She has worked in the intersections between land conservation, land stewardship, affordable housing, and rural economic development, mostly in the Northeastern US, and for land trusts in both the Northeastern and Western US. Katie has a Masters of Environmental Science and MBA from Yale University and a B.A. from Middlebury College.
Alyssa is the Project & Operations Manager at The Conservation Finance Network, where she leads the organization’s business objectives. She has previously worked for the Wisconsin Policy Forum, a nonprofit, nonpartisan policy research think tank. There she helped facilitate the organization’s research on important state-wide issues facing Wisconsinites, including conservation efforts and government finance. With a Masters of Science in Nonprofit Management & Leadership and over a decade of experience in the industry, Alyssa is dedicated to stewarding the work of nonprofit organizations.
Conservation Finance Network Steering Committee
With over 35 years of environmental experience, Margaret Bowman helps foundations and NGOs promote sustainable and equitable water solutions through better policy, strategy, and investments. Margaret ran sustainable and equitable water investing and grantmaking programs at Spring Point Partners, advanced water supply solutions in the Colorado River Basin at the Walton Family Foundation, and supported policy-relevant scientific research at the Pew Charitable Trusts. She has also advocated for river restoration at American Rivers and supported environmental law drafting in Central Europe at the Environmental Law Institute. Margaret serves on the board of the Rural Community Assistance Partnership, and on the Advisory Committee of the Conservation Finance Network. She is a graduate of Wesleyan University and Harvard Law School.
As Vice President of Education at the Land Trust Alliance, Renee oversees the education, standards and conservation defense programs. She previously served as the Alliance’s Director of National Services, supervising all regional programs between 2005-2008. Renee began at the Land Trust Alliance as Director of Midwest Program in 2000, establishing the new regional program serving 12 states. Prior to joining the Alliance staff Renee served as the first executive director of the Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy.
Peter joined Lyme in 1990 and has led the firm’s conservation-oriented forestland investment strategies.
As of 2023, Lyme has raised more than a billion dollars of private capital that has been or will be invested in high conservation value forests in the U.S. and Canada. Lyme’s conservation advisory business assists families and companies in the design and execution of conservation transactions, resulting in more than 900,000 acres of permanent land conservation in 12 states plus the Province of Quebec.
Prior to his career with LTC Partners and Lyme, Peter was Senior Vice President of the Trust for Public Land (TPL), where he was one of the founding staff. He earned a B.A. with Highest Honors from the University of California at Santa Cruz in 1975. Peter was a Loeb Fellow, received a Certificate in Advanced Environmental Studies from Harvard University in 1981, and received the Kingsbury Browne Award from the Land Trust Alliance and Lincoln Institute of Land Policy in 2012.
Peter lectures frequently at graduate schools and professional conferences on conservation investment structures and strategies. He is the co-founder of the Conservation Finance Network and the International Land Conservation Network. Peter serves on the Investment Committee of SLM Partners, the Advisory Boards of Quantified Ventures and Rose Smart Growth Real Estate Fund and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Montshire Museum. He is a former Board Chair of the Land Trust Alliance and served as a founding Commissioner of the Land Trust Accreditation Commission.
Jessamine leads investments in farmland and timberland and serves on the firm’s Investment Committee. Jessamine also leads Alder Point’s impact, ESG, and human resources functions. Prior to Alder Point, Jessamine led the Alignment Insights team at RMI’s Center for Climate-Aligned Finance. Jessamine previously held the role of Principal, Real Assets at New Island Capital Management, where she led investments in real estate, timberland, farmland, and environmental markets. Other past roles include serving as the CFO and COO for Electric Vine Industries, a microgrid company working in remote communities in Southeast Asia. Jessamine began her career with The Nature Conservancy, where she secured public and private funding for conservation projects. Jessamine holds an MBA from the Yale School of Management, a Master of Environmental Management from the Yale School of the Environment, and a BS from Georgetown University. Jessamine lives with her family in Louisville, Colorado.
Rex Linville is the Eastern division director of field programs. Rex is a land conservation professional with over 20 years of experience in the land trust community. For the 17 years prior to joining the Alliance in 2022, Rex worked at the Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC), most recently as Land Conservation Officer. In this role, Rex initiated and closed land conservation transactions and was directly involved in protecting approximately 70,000 acres, ranging from small and complex trail corridor projects to large conservation deals negotiated over many years. He also solicited gifts from major donors, foundations, and corporations and cultivated funder relationships. He conducted lobbying efforts and served as an expert advisor on tax, transactional and financial matters pertaining to land transactions.
In addition, Rex represented PEC on the Virginia United Land Trusts Board (VaULT), where he served on the VaULT Executive Committee as treasurer. His career started in the mid-1990s as a Program Officer at The Mountain Institute in West Virginia. His experience also includes four years as a Land Protection Specialist at Eastern Shore Land Conservancy. Rex received a Bachelor of Science, Finance, from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and a Master of Science, Forest Sciences, from Colorado State University.
Brad Gentry is the F.K. Weyerhaeuser Professor in the Practice at the Yale Schools of the Environment and Management, Senior Associate Dean for Professional Practice at the Yale School of the Environment, and a faculty Director of the Yale Center for Business and the Environment. Trained as a biologist and a lawyer, his work focuses on strengthening the links between investment and improved environmental performance, with a particular focus on increasing investment in natural areas. He has worked on land, water, energy, industrial and other projects in over 40 countries for private, public and not-for-profit organizations. He holds a BA from Swarthmore College and a JD from Harvard Law School.
Carl is the founder and Executive Director of LegacyWorks Group and is currently serving as Regional Director in Santa Barbara and the Tetons. Carl has led innovative community impact initiatives for the past 17 years. His experience spans impact investing, nonprofit leadership, ecological restoration, strategy development, entrepreneurship, investment management and place-based education.
In 2005 Carl co-founded Beartooth Capital, an impact investment firm investing in important ranches around the American West to generate financial returns, conservation results and community benefits. Before Beartooth Capital, Carl was President and CEO of Greenbridges, an impact investment firm focused on agricultural property with high conservation value. Carl also served as Executive Director of the Ogden Nature Center, a land trust and education center in Northern Utah and worked at the Teton Science Schools in Grand Teton National Park.
Carl received a BA in Architectural Studies and a BA in Environmental Studies with Honors from Brown University. He also earned an MBA from the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University where he was student President of the Public Management Program, the student arm of Stanford’s Center for Social Innovation. Carl chairs the Education Advisory Committee for the Board of Directors of the Teton Science Schools and serves as a member of the Steering Committee of the Conservation Finance Network. When not working to build community, Carl loves gardening, working around the yard, traveling and backpacking. Carl lives in Santa Barbara with his wife Carrie Kappel, their son Charlie and daughter Lily, along with a menagerie of chickens, cats, fish and friends.
JP Gibbons is a Senior Director for the Sustainable and Impact Investing
Investments that combine financial returns with social and/or environmental benefits.
Group at Cambridge Associates.
JP joined Cambridge Associates in 2019 and has more than ten years of industry experience. His investment research focuses on natural capital and private diversifiers.
Prior to joining Cambridge Associates, JP worked at USAID’s Development Credit Authority where he led the Global Transactions Team to catalyze capital for impact through innovative blended finance structures. JP also represented USAID as the primary point of contact on environmental finance issues. Prior to joining USAID, JP was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Guatemala where he worked on improving business practices for environmental non-profits. JP began his career as a Valuation Analyst at Andersen, formerly known as Wealth and Tax Advisory Services.
Outside of his professional work, he is a Kinship Conservation Fellow and frequently speaks at business and environmental programs about conservation finance.
He received his MBA in Sustainability from Duquesne University and his BS from the University of Notre Dame.
Cherie’s conservation career includes 25 years with Columbia Land Trust helping grow the organization to achieve regional conservation strategies with a focus on forest landscapes. She was a founding member of Washington Association of Land Trusts and the Northwest Coalition for Community Forests. While recently retired from the Land Trust, she continues to lead projects including a community forest in rural southwest Washington and implementing emerging financial models for conservation. Cherie is vice chair of the Washington Conservation Commission supporting the state’s diverse people and natural resources through conservation districts. Cherie has degrees in psychology, religion and public administration. She lives in Washougal, Washington with her family and pets and her dedications include her community, church, animal shelter and abundant trails.