Jason Funk and Stephanie Wang

Jason Funk Biography

Jason became Director of REDD+ Strategy at Conservation International in 2022. Prior to joining CI, he held various roles related to climate science and advocacy at Carbon 180, the Union of Concerned Scientists, and Environmental Defense Fund, always working at the intersection of land use and climate change. He has consistently focused on ways to incentivize land management activities that can help slow climate change, improve rural development, and shape more sustainable landscapes. He has advocated for sensible land-use policies at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change for over 10 years, and he is certified as an expert reviewer for land-use emissions inventories. Dr. Funk earned his Ph.D. in the Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources at Stanford University, and he holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Environmental Science from the Ohio State University. He lives near Chicago, Illinois, with his spouse and two children. 

Stephanie Wang Biography

Stephanie Wang is Associate Director of Climate Finance Policy at the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). Stephanie has over 10 years’ experience working to advance climate finance and policy incentives to support forest conservation. Stephanie has focused on emerging approaches for scaling up climate finance incentives for the protection of intact forests. She has also provided extensive technical support for both national REDD+ approaches and projects in Madagascar, Zambia, Cambodia, Guyana, Papua New Guinea and others, particularly with respect to legal issues and institutional arrangements. She has a J.D. from Harvard Law School and degrees in History and Asian American Studies from UCLA.