Our Team
​​At Urban Biodiversity Hub (UBHub), we are a diverse and passionate team committed to integrating nature into urban environments across the globe. Our experts bring a wealth of experience from various fields, working together to develop innovative, science-based solutions for urban sustainability and biodiversity conservation. Meet the people behind UBHub:
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Executive Committee
Jennifer Rae Pierce
Chief Operations Officer and Co-Founder
​Jennifer is a political ecologist, urban planner, and biodiversity policy specialist with 18 years of experience working with cities and nature. Her work spans local government tools and global comparative research, including the creation of toolkits for ICLEI, Science-Based Targets for Cities for Nature, and Urban Nature Indexes for IUCN. Jennifer also advises on urban biodiversity for the World Bank and leads the IUCN CEM Urban Ecosystems Specialist Working Group, also representing CEM on the IUCN Urban Alliance. She holds degrees in architecture, city planning, and environmental science and policy. She is now completing a PhD in urban biodiversity justice at the University of British Columbia.
Mika Mei Jia Tan (陈美嘉)
Executive Secretary and co-Founder
Mika has dedicated over 14 years to empowering youth for environmental action, particularly in the areas of urban biodiversity, capacity building, and systems thinking. As the Co-Founder and East and Southeast Asia Regional Lead of UBHub, she leads the development of tools and reports to help cities plan with nature. Mika's background includes designing the ASEAN Youth Biodiversity Programme and mentoring youth across Southeast Asia. Mika holds a B.A. in Environmental Studies (Conservation Biology) from Middlebury College, USA, and is an inaugural Middlebury Social Entrepreneurship Fellow and a Loke Cheng-Kim Scholar. When not working, she enjoys dancing and spending time with her two daughters.
Pablo Arturo López Guijosa
Chief Communications Officer
Pablo is an expert in international relations and communications, with a focus on biodiversity conservation and protected areas. He holds a Master’s in Environmental Management from the University of Queensland, a degree in Biology from UNAM, and has collaborated with global organizations like the Ramsar Convention and UNEP. Pablo has helped organize numerous UN biodiversity conferences and currently serves as Chief Communications Officer at UBHub, Senior Advisor for Keystone Species Alliance, and Communications Officer for IUCN ORMACC and the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas. He is also the founder of Chasing World Heritage, a personal project to visit these sites.
Dr. Laura Costadone
Chief Science Officer
Laura is an urban ecologist with a PhD in Earth, Environment, and Society from Portland State University. She specializes in ecosystem services, human-environment interactions, and data science, with experience in research roles in Finland and the USA. Her work focuses on building resilience in urban and coastal areas through nature-based solutions. Laura is also an Assistant Research Professor at Old Dominion University and plays a critical role in co-creating pathways for urban sustainability with municipalities and decision-makers.
Regional Leads
UBHub's Regional Lead Teams serve as anchor points and hubs-within-the-hub for collaboration. UBHub also offers regional coordination via the regional teams to assist with coordination among IUCN Commissions and IUCN Urban Alliance via regular regional briefings (image of Beirut below by Sarah Jaroush).
AFRICA REGION
Frantz Zebaze Nguetsy (he/him), Africa Region Lead
Frantz has over 13 years of experience in education, research, and social entrepreneurship, particularly in natural resource management and community development. Born in Bafoussam, Cameroon, Frantz’s early work focused on biodiversity and environmental education at the Dja Biosphere Reserve. He has a bachelor’s in human geography, a teaching diploma, and a master’s in biogeography from the University of Yaoundé I. He is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Marien Ngouabi in Brazzaville. Frantz has been involved in initiatives that address land degradation, biodiversity loss, and climate adaptation in urban and peri-urban areas, advocating for urban conservation and community-based solutions. He is fluent in English, French, and Yemba.​
Julie Goodness, Africa Region co-Lead
ASIA REGION
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Anushri Tiwari, South Asia Region Lead
Anushri is an urban ecologist with expertise in Nature-based Solutions (NBS) and urban adaptation, focusing on advancing urban biodiversity and resilience. She has worked extensively across cities in South Asia and Southeast Asia through her role at the Urban Biodiversity Hub (UBHub), where she has contributed to integrating biodiversity into urban planning and policy. Anushri collaborates with global organizations, including IUCN, to drive ecological restoration and develop frameworks for sustainable urban development. She is currently engaged in the Science-based Targets for Nature for Cities project with Metabolic and SBTN, shaping future urban strategies. Recently, Anushri has also contributed to the C40 Adaptation Finance Academy, focusing on driving investment towards climate adaptation in cities. Her work highlights the intersection of ecology, urban development, and climate adaptation, aiming to create sustainable and resilient cities across rapidly urbanizing regions.
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Mika Tan (she/her), East and Southeast Asia Region Lead
Mika has dedicated over 14 years to empowering youth for environmental action, particularly in the areas of urban biodiversity, capacity building, and systems thinking. As the Co-Founder and East and Southeast Asia Regional Lead of UBHub, she leads the development of tools and reports to help cities plan with nature. Mika's background includes designing the ASEAN Youth Biodiversity Programme and mentoring youth across Southeast Asia. Mika holds a B.A. in Environmental Studies (Conservation Biology) from Middlebury College, USA, and is an inaugural Middlebury Social Entrepreneurship Fellow and a Loke Cheng-Kim Scholar.
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Meherwan Patel (he/him), South Asia Region Young Professional
Meherwan is committed to making cities in Asia more liveable through natural infrastructure. He conducts and publishes scientific research on the planning, implementation and feasibility of urban nature-based solutions (NbS) at the Asian School of the Environment (ASE) of Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Singapore. At NTU, he also leads the expert advisory committee for the ASE–AIPH World Green City Awards collaboration to help build capacity for 60+ cities to implement NbS.
Meherwan holds a B.A. with Honours in Philosophy and Urban Studies with Distinction at Yale-NUS College (Singapore). He is an established youth leader in the global Zoroastrian community, and has led panels at two World Zoroastrian Congresses. As a triathlete and national swimmer for Pakistan, Meherwan uses his platform to help bring sports outdoors and people to engage with nature in meaningful ways and is developing a start-up that bridges nature and sports: ntr+.
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Natsune Otaku (she/her), East and Southeast Asia Region Young Professional
Natsune is an International Relations and Economics student at the University of British Columbia with a globally informed perspective shaped by her upbringing across Taiwan, Dubai, Singapore, the Philippines, Japan, and Canada. Her work spans energy transitions, corporate sustainability, and environmental governance. She has contributed to Canada’s hydrogen and fuel cell industry and supported the design of corporate sustainability and CSR training modules for financial firms. At UBC, she holds leadership roles in sustainability-focused initiatives, including the Environmental Policy Association and the Sustainability Ambassadors program. Her work bridges technical industries, policy spaces, and institutional engagement to support systems-level environmental change.
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​EUROPE REGION
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Joeri Morpurgo (he/him), Europe Region co-Lead
Universiteit Leiden, Institute of Environmental Sciences, Environmental Biology, Leiden, The Netherlands.
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Stefania Romano (she/her), Europe Region co-Lead
Stefania, based in Rome, Italy, works at UNECE/FAO Forestry and Timber Section Forests, Land and Housing Division. She previously served as the Global Coordinator of CitiesWithNature & RegionsWithNature for ICLEI Africa. She holds a 2007 - 2009 Master of Arts in Public Policy: International Public Policy Stream in Public Policy @ Central European University. She is also the CEO and founder of the Hearth Platform, where Art & Environment meet.
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Eline Remortel (she/her), Europe Region Young Professional
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LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN REGION
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Tatiana Gadda (she/her), Latin America Region co-Lead
Tatiana is an expert in urban planning and environmental science, holding a PhD from Chiba University in Japan. She is a professor at UTFPR in Brazil, where she coordinates research on urban biodiversity. Tatiana has held roles at UNU-IAS and is a member of both the IPBES and the Brazilian Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. Her work focuses on urbanization and global environmental change, making her a leading voice in Latin America on urban biodiversity issues.
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Franco L. Souza (he/him), Latin America Region co-Lead
Franco is a full-time professor at the Mato Grosso do Sul Federal University in Brazil and a contributor to the IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group. He is also a member of the IUCN Ecosystem Management Group and the GEOBON Ecosystem Service Working Group. Franco's work focuses on biodiversity conservation, human-dominated ecosystems, and ecosystem services. He is deeply engaged in creating strategies for fostering dialogue between various societal actors and promoting biodiversity-friendly environments. His extensive experience in national and international partnerships makes him a key figure in advancing initiatives that integrate human well-being with ecological health. Franco has published widely in leading journals and is an active participant in education and knowledge exchange.
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Mateo Villegas (he/him), Latin America Region Young Professional
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NORTH AMERICA REGION
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Laura Costadone (she/her), North America Regional Lead
Laura is an urban ecologist with a PhD in Earth, Environment, and Society from Portland State University. She specializes in ecosystem services, human-environment interactions, and data science, with experience in research roles in Finland and the USA. Her work focuses on building resilience in urban and coastal areas through nature-based solutions. Laura is also an Assistant Research Professor at Old Dominion University and plays a critical role in co-creating pathways for urban sustainability with municipalities and decision-makers.
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Charlyn Green (she/her), North America Regional co-Lead
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Maitreyi Venkata (she/her), North America Regional co-Lead​​​​
Maitreyi is a specialist in Nature-Based Solutions (NbS), climate policy, and urban governance. As UBHub’s Program Manager for the Nature Science-Based Targets for Cities Project, she integrates biodiversity into urban landscapes. Maitreyi holds dual Master’s degrees in Water Management and Environmental Science and has worked with organizations such as the Overseas Development Institute and the Indian Institute for Human Settlements. She is passionate about empowering communities, especially women and children, to adapt to climate change through NbS.
OCEANIA REGION
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Dr Dave Kendal (he/him), Regional co-Lead, Oceania
Dave is an internationally recognized expert on social-ecological systems and the interaction between people and nature. He has gained a strong reputation for his work in nature-based solutions, urban greening, biodiversity conservation, and climate adaptation. Dave has a background in academic roles at the University of Tasmania, the University of Melbourne, and the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne. He has served on Australia’s Threatened Species Scientific Committee and is currently a member of the Victorian Environmental Assessment Council. Dave is dedicated to supporting community-led conservation efforts, particularly focusing on local communities and First Nations peoples. In 2022, he founded Future in Nature, a platform aimed at advancing nature-related policy and programs to create a sustainable future for all species.
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Evariste Rutebuka (he/him), Regional co-Lead, Oceania
Evariste is an international consultant specialising in the Nature-Based Solutions Investment portfolio and has worked on various investment projects across multiple countries and regions. Over the past six years, he assisted different reporting frameworks integrating biodiversity and ecosystem services, such as the Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR), the Country Environment Analysis Report, and Ecosystem Accounting Reports for the World Bank and the United Nations Statistics Division. In his PhD work on urban biodiversity indicators for monitoring and Cross-Scale policy reporting from the University of Melbourne, he recently provided critical insights that could bridge local and global policy scales. With his expertise in ecological modelling and biodiversity and his PhD work, Evariste supports the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) at the World Bank in developing a Biodiversity module. This module complements the Heat, Flood, and Recreation modules, ensuring a more comprehensive Cities Nature-Based Solutions Opportunity Scan tool (NBSOS). Evariste is also one of the global experts who contributed to developing the Ecosystem Accounting Guideline Tool, supporting the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA). He is part of the Green Infrastructure Research Group (GIRG)at the University of Melbourne, where he focuses on developing urban biodiversity indicators and exploring the science-policy interface to improve city biodiversity monitoring. He is also an Associate researcher at the Center of Excellence in Biodiversity and Natural Resource Management at the University of Rwanda. He is dedicated to creating biodiversity indicators well-suited to diverse urban contexts and integrating practitioners’ perspectives, helping narrow the science-policy gap and enabling cities to better measure their contributions to halting biodiversity loss.
Project Managers
Dr. Sabrina L. Drill, Project Manager
Sabrina is an urban ecologist and former Urban Natural Resources Advisor for the Los Angeles metro region with the University of California Cooperative Extension. For two decades, she worked to help diverse communities connect with, protect, and restore urban nature. Sabrina has extensive experience in ichthyology, aquatic ecology, and natural resource management. She co-created California’s Master Naturalist program and led grant-funded projects related to fire preparation, invasive species management, and environmental justice. Sabrina is passionate about public participation in science and its role in improving conservation outcomes. She holds a master’s in biology and a Ph.D. in geography from UCLA.​
Alessia Ricchiuti, Project Manager
Alessia is a passion driven early-career Environmental Psychologist. After finishing her bachelor's in Psychology, she worked in the education sector, motivated by a strong belief that education is a key solution to many of society’s challenges.Then, her passion for the ocean led her to volunteer for a marine conservation NGO in Greece, where she gained hands-on field experience. This reignited her commitment to sustainability and inspired her to pursue a Master’s in Environmental Psychology. Her thesis examined the impact of anthropomorphising trees on advocacy behaviours: asking whether describing trees in human terms could foster greater emotional connection and understanding of their ecological role. Outside of work, she is a self-proclaimed sea animal, who dives into any body of water she can find; though surfing in the ocean holds a special place in her heart. For her, the sea is a humbling force, always reminding her that even her biggest worries can be washed away in a wave..​
Advisors
Jonathan Hughes
Advisor
Jonathan is a prominent British environmentalist with extensive leadership experience in conservation science, practice, and public policy. He has held CEO and chair-level roles in numerous conservation organizations and is a former elected Council member of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). From 2012 to 2016, he chaired the IUCN Council’s policy and program committee, and from 2017 to 2023, he was the founding chair of the IUCN Urban Alliance. Jonathan is passionate about integrating nature into urban environments to deliver ecological and social benefits. He holds a BA in Geography and Biology from Keele University and an MSc in Ecology from the University of Florence.
José A. Puppim de Oliveira
Advisor
José is a faculty member at Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV) in Brazil, specializing in global environmental change. His interdisciplinary work focuses on urban dynamics and the political economy of governance, particularly how global environmental changes influence local institutions and policy. José has extensive international experience, having worked in over 20 countries. His research explores the links between urban planning, environmental governance, and sustainability, aiming to improve policy implementation in response to environmental challenges.
Together, we at Urban Biodiversity Hub are committed to building greener, more resilient cities where people and nature can thrive.