The California Institute for Biodiversity

The California Institute for Biodiversity supports biodiversity conservation efforts statewide. We enable scientists, conservationists, philanthropists, educators, community members, landowners, and policymakers to coordinate their efforts, thereby streamlining conservation as the time to do this runs short.

Our Cause

One of 35 global biodiversity hotspots, California sustains unparalleled diversity of creatures and habitats. All are imperiled by climate change and drought, invasive species and pesticide proliferation, habitat destruction and wildfire. We must act.

Fortunately, solutions exist. Some are difficult, others straightforward and simply underappreciated. CIB’s cause is to advance solutions, evolve outdated systems, and develop new approaches for saving and sustaining California’s wondrous biodiversity, today and forever.

Our Approach

Many California conservation efforts are hampered by the need to spend precious resources on fundraising, growing staff, and internal management. By providing this infrastructure and coordinating efforts among organizations and across silos, CIB enables biodiversity advocates to focus their efforts on coordinated activities with the greatest impacts.

CIB connects researchers with funding, activists with policy makers, community members with public forums, and everyone with most current data to make informed decisions. As a platform for change, the California Institute for Biodiversity’s lean team invests in expanding resources for the larger ecosystem of biodiversity advocates.

Our theory of change holds that CIB can catalyze transformation by:

• Listening to scientists, conservationists, communities, and educators to identify the greatest threats and most powerful solutions.
• Convening and cohering various and disparate partners with the commitment and ability to advance those solutions.
• Boldly acting to advance structural and policy change; securing the funding that makes change possible; and using regranting and sponsorship to grow the community advancing change.

Officers

• Daniel Gluesenkamp, PhD (President, Executive Director)
• John Geraci (Secretary)
• Eric Berlow, PhD (Treasurer)

Collaborators

• California Academy of Sciences
• Natural History Museum of LA County
• Cal eDNA
• U.C. Davis
• U.C. Santa Cruz
• University of Arizona
• Driven Data
• Sierra Streams Institute
• San Diego Natural History Museum
• University of Southern California
• California Insect Biodiversity Project
• Essig Museum of Entomology
• Stillwater Sciences
• Adventure Scientists
• FUNDIS Sequencing Lab
• Mycota Lab
• Hokan
• SOILTech
• Islephile
• Silicon Valley Barcode of Life
• Point Blue

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