The Center for Natural Lands Management (CNLM) welcomes Christy Brigham, Ph.D., as its Director of Science-Based Stewardship. Christy brings 30 years of experience in conservation science and land management across California and the western United States. She has a proven record of leading large scientific teams, building research partnerships, and protecting threatened and endangered species.
Christy joins CNLM from The Nature Conservancy, where she served as Project Director of the San Joaquin Valley Project in TNC California’s Water Program. In that role, she partnered with land trusts, irrigation districts, farmers, and state agencies to advance projects like bird-friendly aquifer recharge, wildlife-friendly solar, and upland habitat restoration. Before joining TNC, Christy spent 23 years with the National Park Service. For 11 of those years, she served as Chief of Resources Management and Science at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. There, she led a team of 60 scientists and technicians and built one of the strongest research-based resource management programs in the Park Service. She also served as Chief of Planning, Science and Resource Management at Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. In that position, she designed the park’s inventory and monitoring program and helped design and raise funds for the Liberty Canyon wildlife overpass.
Christy has spent her career advancing the science behind imperiled species recovery. She led a 30-year restoration plan for Sierra Nevada yellow-legged and mountain yellow-legged frogs, revived research programs for fisher and California spotted owl, and held a federal recovery permit to study endangered plants. She has brought new tools to conservation, including eDNA, AI-based imagery analysis, and acoustic monitoring. She also helped establish the Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition. In 2021, she received the NPS Director’s Award for Professional Excellence in Natural Resources Management.
Christy began her conservation career in Washington and Oregon, so she knows both the Pacific Northwest and California firsthand. She now brings her passion for science-driven, collaborative stewardship to CNLM’s roughly 100 preserves across California, Washington, and Oregon.
To learn more about the Center for Natural Lands Management, visit https://www.cnlm.org.
