Alison Macalady is a strategic advisor to Forest Trends’ Global Water Initiative, where she advises on scaling nature-based solutions for water security in Latin America and globally. She spent nine years as an Environment Officer with USAID, most recently as Water and Marine Team Lead for USAID/Peru and the South America Regional mission, and previously as Senior Water Security Advisor at USAID headquarters in Washington. In Peru, she managed a portfolio of multimillion-dollar environment projects, including the Natural Infrastructure for Water Security (NIWS) project, led by a Forest Trends-headed consortium; Por la Pesca, focused on fisheries sustainability in coastal Peru and Ecuador; and CINCIA Acierta, addressing monitoring and ecosystem recovery from artisanal gold mining in the Amazon. Earlier, Alison led studies at the National Academy of Sciences on climate modeling and weather prediction and began her career as a wildland firefighter and environmental journalist working on land and water issues in the western U.S., experience she’s now excited to bring full circle at Forest Trends. She holds a Ph.D. in Geography from the University of Arizona and a Master of Forestry from Yale University.