My conservation career started in 1992 when I helped set up and joined a University expedition to the Bolivian Amazon. What started out as a 3-month experience ended up being a life-changing inflection point that set my professional and personal course to the present day. My conservation experience was built bottom-up and hands-on, and includes field data collection and logistics, grassroots organization leadership and project management, community engagement and capacity building, M&E, training and behavior change, and lately climate education through authorship of graphic novels and other resources. My conservation career includes positions as a senior staff member and a principal investigator at the Bolivian BirdLife Partner Armonía, field investigator in the Gran Chaco with WCS Bolivia, field logistics officer for Conservation International's RAP expeditions, and Programme Manager and Senior Manager of M&E at Rare. I currently work as Senior Behaviour Change Specialist with TRAFFIC International, applying behavioural science approaches to support TRAFFIC's work across wildlife supply chains globally. 

Hello, I'm Yanna, a design consultant helping social and environmental impact organizations to design innovative solutions that address complex challenges. My approach combines human-centered design and behavior change strategies. I believe that understanding the drivers and barriers of human behavior in relation to environmental challenges is essential in order to design sustainable and transformative community programs that achieve conservation goals. I facilitate a design process with my clients to create tools, services and programs that drive systemic change, exploring solutions beyond campaigns and educational approaches. I am really passionate about protecting nature and wildlife. Although my design experience stems mostly from healthcare, humanitarian aid, agriculture and climate change resilience programs (see https://designfollowsinsight.com/projects/), I have also worked on developing a biodiversity monitoring and reporting innovation strategy. My goal is to apply design research methodologies and innovation in the service of wildlife and nature.