Maria Whitehead

During her professional career, Maria Whitehead, PhD has held positions as an ornithologist, professor, and conservation professional. She was worked for 15 years in the direct conservation of land and water and the interdisciplinary realm of climate adaptation and community resilience. As a coastal program manager for The Nature Conservancy, she worked at the land-water interface - helping to initiate a water fund program, establish oyster restoration sites, and protect tidal wetlands and wetland migration space. Today, as Senior Program Manager at Open Space Institute, she works across the eastern United States on varied conservation projects and initiatives including interpreting climate science for land-protection professionals, designing and implementing landscape-scale land conservation initiatives and assisting communities impacted by climate change.