Former Staff, 2013 – 2020

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Don S. Doering

JRS Biodiversity Foundation Executive Director | Seattle, WA (USA)

Don Doering served JRS 2013 – 2020 as JRS’ second Executive Director.  He presided over the shift of JRS grantmaking to focus on Africa, local capacity development to serve local needs, and on pollinators and freshwater biodiversity. He led grantmaking of $13.4M in commitments predominantly to African institutions and a high representation of women project directors. His expertise is philanthropic strategies to create change and he has over 25years of experience in strategy development and execution in the for-profit and non-profit sectors. From 2006-2011, Don served at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation where he helped to start and lead a sixty-five person team in Agricultural Development that committed over $1.7 billion in four years to help poor farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. He held positions of Program Office, Business Officer, and Senior Strategy Officer. Don has held senior positions at the Wharton School of Business, World Resources Institute, Winrock International, and the International Food Policy Research Institute and consulted to Fortune500 companies and major non-profit organizations. He is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins University in Biophysics and received his Ph.D. in Biology from M.I.T.. 

Samantha A. Garvin

JRS Biodiversity Foundation Program Manager | Seattle, WA (USA)

Sam Garvin served JRS 2018-2019 as JRS’ first full-time Program Manager.  Sam made great contributions to all areas of JRS work including grantmaking, strategic communications, grantee support, and management. Her expertise is in socio-political contexts of conservation, and she has 6 years of professional experience in applied research in the conservation and international development arenas. She has conducted research on decision-making to support human-elephant coexistence in Botswana, as well as contributed to projects at the International Research Institute for Climate and Society, implementing financial instruments  to mitigate climate risk for smallholder farmers. Sam is a graduate of Barnard College, Columbia University in Environmental Science and received her Masters of Environmental Science from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.. 

Lillian Mcgill

University of Washington | Seattle, WA (USA)

Lillian McGill served JRS 2017-2018 as a science communications intern. She is currently a graduate student in the Quantitative Ecology and Resource Management program at the University of Washington. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Science and Applied Mathematics from the University of Notre Dame. Lillian enjoys the challenges of communicating technical science to a broad audience. 

Emily Grason

University of Washington | Seattle, WA (USA)

Emily Grason served JRS 2015-2017 as a science communications intern. She recently completed a Ph.D. at the University of Washington studying biological invasions. She enjoys communicating conservation and biodiversity science to broad audiences, as a speaker, a blogger, and as the person sitting next to you to on the airplane.

Ariel West

University of Washington | Seattle, WA (USA)

Ariel West served JRS 2015-2016 as our third management intern. She is a graduate student at the Evans School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington and received her Bachelor’s Degree in International Studies from the University of Michigan.

Samantha DeMars-Hanson

University of Washington | Seattle, WA (USA)

Sam DeMars-Hanson served JRS 2014-2015 as our second communications intern. She is a University of Washington graduate with a degree in Environmental Studies. Sam is a huge animal lover.

Alison Saperstein

University of Washington | Seattle, WA (USA)

Alison served JRS 2014-2015 as our second management intern. She completed her Master’s of Public Administration at the University of Washington. Allison has a background in Geology-Biology from Brown University and professional experience in non-profit program management and environmental education.

Izabella Phillips

University of Washington | Seattle, WA (USA)

Izzy served JRS 2013-2014 as our first communications intern. She is a graduate of the University of Washington with a degree in Communications and is a Seattle local. Izzy managed JRS’ social media and was JRS’ point of contact for grantee communications and has developed the Grant Portfolio content in partnership with JRS grantees.

Chris Clark

University of Washington | Seattle, WA (USA)

Chris served JRS 2013-2014 as our first management intern. Chris completed his Master’s of Public Administration at the University of Washington’s Evans School. He is also a graduate of Portland State University in International Studies and Economics and served in the U.S. Peace Corps in Niger, West Africa.