Changemaker
Emily Burns
TL;DR
Emily Burns led the science that mapped the redwood genome at Save the Redwoods League, and now directs conservation programs for Sky Island Alliance in Arizona.
Emily Burns is program director for the northern Sky Islands at Sky Island Alliance, an organization working to protect life and lands across the Sky Island region of southern Arizona and northern Mexico. She joined in 2019 and works out of the Tucson office, directing wildlife research, water monitoring, conservation advocacy and restoration work across public and private lands. Before that she was science director at Save the Redwoods League, where she directed the Redwoods and Climate Change Initiative and the Redwood Genome Project. Giants Rising credits her with developing restoration projects including mapping the redwood genome. Her own site says she remains a research associate at UC Santa Cruz.
Emily Burns is program director for the northern Sky Islands at Sky Island Alliance, and the former science director at Save the Redwoods League who ran the Redwood Genome Project.
Why OGSP Recommends It
We recommend Emily Burns’s work because she brings direct experience studying how redwoods respond to climate change. At Save the Redwoods League, she directed the Redwood Genome Project and the Redwoods and Climate Change Initiative. She now oversees wildlife research, water monitoring, advocacy and restoration for Sky Island Alliance. Her perspective helps the film explain how scientific research can guide conservation work in the field.
Related Resources
Key Takeaways
- She directed the Redwood Genome Project and the Redwoods and Climate Change Initiative at Save the Redwoods League.
- She joined Sky Island Alliance in 2019 and is based in its Tucson office.
- Her current work covers wildlife research, water monitoring, advocacy and restoration across public and private lands.
- Her doctorate is in integrative biology from UC Berkeley.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Emily Burns do at Save the Redwoods League?
She was science director, directing the Redwoods and Climate Change Initiative and the Redwood Genome Project.
What is Emily Burns doing now?
She is program director for the northern Sky Islands at Sky Island Alliance, based in Tucson, Arizona, where she joined in 2019.
What is the Sky Island region?
Her organization describes it as spanning southern Arizona and northern Mexico, and says its work there covers the protection of life and lands.
What is Emily Burns’ background?
A doctorate in integrative biology from the University of California, Berkeley.