Cheryl Calaustro

As a conservation biologist with over 20 years of program administration experience in social and economic development and community awareness, I have been involved in natural resource protection, endangered species recovery and community development in Micronesia and the broader Pacific, Central America, the Caribbean, the US mainland plus Alaska and Hawaii. Within Micronesia and as part of the Education Leadership team at the Wildlife Conservation Society, I established relationships with a broad range of stakeholders to garner local community support to increase knowledge, improve attitudes and change behaviors to combat threats they face in their environment. I have designed and implemented social surveys, economic assessments and feasibility studies that have helped communities and marginalized sectors obtain tangible, effective, sustainable conservation results by utilizing local knowledge and solutions. As a biologist at the Guam Department of Agriculture, I have developed proposals and managed grants from federal and non-profit entities including the US Fish & Wildlife Service, National Audubon Society and Rare to support a variety of programs and needs for staffing, resources, capital improvement and daily operations. I have been successful in securing repeated funding to sustain community outreach and education programs through meticulous monitoring, reporting and constant improvement of implementation plans. In Micronesia, I have been effective in executing regional plans through partnerships and collaborations with entities such as the Micronesia Regional Invasive Species Council and have trained not only front-line responders but also future environmental stewards throughout the Pacific region. Lastly, I have a strong regional network of local community, civil society, financial institutions, government and NGOs to support improvement of regional capacity for early detection and rapid response of invasive species.