Advancing stewardship requires bold ideas, collaboration, and innovative solutions. In October 2024, the Andrew Sabin Family Center for Environment and Sustainability hosted its inaugural conference, Advancing Stewardship: Innovative Approaches for a Thriving Planet. Bringing together global thought leaders, the event explored cutting-edge conservation strategies, public-private partnerships, and transformative approaches to sustainability.
In October 2024, we hosted our inaugural conference as the Andrew Sabin Family Center for Environment and Sustainability: “Advancing Stewardship: Innovative Approaches for a Thriving Planet.” Featuring leading Practitioners from the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem Region all the way to the Peruvian Amazon, the conference celebrated cross-disciplinary dialogue, innovation, collaboration, and bi-partisanship in the fight for environmental sustainability.
“Our intent was to bring together world-class thought leaders to disseminate innovative strategies for protecting and restoring areas vital to the world’s ecological health,” said Stan Meiburg, Executive Director of the Sabin Center. “Creative thinking and new approaches are essential to our goal of a world that is sustainable, just, and abundantly wild.”
Intentionally designed to engage both practitioners and the broader public, the conference brought together a diverse audience that included not only academics and students but also local citizens, community leaders, and private-sector professionals. Each session served to demonstrate the complexity of environmental challenges and the importance of uniting diverse perspectives to develop holistic solutions.
When Working Lands Meet the Wild: Living with Wolves from Yellowstone to the Outer Banks
Dr. Liz Rutledge of the NC Wildlife Federation and Brian Yablonski, CEO of PERC (Property Environment Research Center discuss the unique dynamics that play out when humans and protected wildlife have to coexist. In this conversation, they dig into the critical role of property owners and community members in ensuring successful conservation efforts for all. This panel discussion is moderated by our Founding Director Dr. Miles Silman.
A Unified Vision of Conservation
Professor Gary Machlis of Clemson University delivered a thought-provoking address, in which he shared his candid critique of the fragmentation in the conservation movement and advocated for a more integrated approach. Describing conservation in America as “a mature tree with branches spread far apart,” Machlis urged these groups to join forces across eight essential branches of conservation. Dr. Machlis provided his compelling roadmap for a more cohesive and resilient conservation movement, exhorting the students in the audience to take up this critical work as they move into the next generation of leadership.
Public-Private Partnerships
Scott Schang, Director of the Environmental Law and Policy Clinic at Wake Forest University’s School of Law, moderated a conversation between Acting United States Deputy Secretary of the Interior Laura Daniel-Davis and Conservation Fund Senior Advisor Bill Holman, which underscored the value of public-private partnerships in environmental conservation. The session delved into real-world examples of successful partnerships, such as the Klamath River Basin restoration and protection efforts for the red-cockaded woodpecker. Holman added insights on the role of nonprofit organizations in building trust with landowners, while Daniel-Davis emphasized the importance of bipartisan support and engaging underserved communities to build sustainable conservation models. Together, the panel illustrated the far-reaching impact of collective action across sectors.
Transformative Approaches to Stewardship: Capacity, Community, and Collaboration Across Our World
Dr. Luis Fernandez, Executive Director of the Center for Amazon Scientific Innovation (CINCIA) is joined by Julie Robinson, The Nature Conservancy Belize Program Director, Enrique Ortiz, Senior Director of the Andes Amazon Fund, and Dr. Andrew Whitworth, Executive Director of Osa Conservation. Their conversation highlights truly game-changing approaches to global conservation challenges across geographies, cultures, and ecosystems.
Our event featured a keynote address from Pulitzer-Prize winning author Elizabeth Kolbert entitled “The Fate of the Earth,” in which Kolbert shared lessons revealed over her decades of environmental reporting experience. In addition to her public remarks, Kolbert also spent time with several Wake Forest students, including those in Professor Lisa Sorg’s Environmental Journalism course and Dr. Rowie Kirby-Straker’s first-year seminar called “Greta Thunbergs Everywhere: Caribbean & Pacific Island Youth in Environmental Communication”—where she interacted with students, sharing her expertise on environmental journalism and offering perspectives on the stark realities of climate change. Kolbert also met with undergraduate and graduate biology students for breakfast, creating an intimate setting for them to discuss their environmental studies and career aspirations.
Truist Future Forward Challenge: Designing for the Future
The conference concluded with a session exploring how businesses can design regenerative systems through the circular economy, featuring sustainable strategy leaders from Accenture. The session also served as the official kick-off of the Truist Future Forward Challenge, which includes an exciting new sustainability course for undergraduates launched in Spring 2025. Developed in collaboration with the business school and the undergraduate environmental and sustainability program, the course introduces students to the principles of the circular economy and explores how businesses are rethinking the use and reuse of resources.