Dr. Laila Sandroni, PhD

Dr. Sandroni is a biodiversity & conservation expert and leads GCSE’s Applied Solutions
Network (ASN). Dr. Sandroni brings expertise in conservation and restoration practice and in the social dimensions of biodiversity governance, and connects the team to the ASN’s network of practitioners and decision-makers working in the project’s focal landscapes.She has coordinated and contributed to research and innovation initiatives spanning the Americas and beyond, engaging a full range of stakeholders—universities, local and Indigenous associations, the private sector, NGOs, intergovernmental organizations, and federal and state governments. In her previous position she led the Transdisciplinary Academy Program at the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research, where she designed and delivered regional training, grant frameworks, and capacity-building programs in knowledge co-production specially dedicated to biodiversity conservation. As a Contributing Author to the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Transformative Change Assessment, she has helped translate complex, multi-source evidence into syntheses calibrated for policy
audiences. Dr Sandroni is also a part of the convivial conservation coalition working to promote social justice and connection between people and nature through biodiversity conservation. She is experienced in the design and facilitation of multi-stakeholder workshops at every scale, from project-level conservation processes to international scoping efforts such as the Belmont Forum's Collaborative Research Action and associated training cohorts. This is complemented by a strong record of peer-reviewed publication and policy-oriented writing across conservation science, political ecology, and evidence-based environmental policy.