Deanna Spooner
Over the past two decades, Deanna Spooner has worked on species conservation and climate change adaptation in both the non-profit and government sectors. Currently employed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to serve as the Coordinator of the Pacific Islands Climate Change Cooperative (PICCC), she focuses on large-scale, partnership-driven climate adaptation planning and implementation for natural and cultural resources, known as biocultural resources. The Pacific Islands are experiencing a multitude of regional and localized impacts of global climate change that are straining the natural resilience of the region’s people and places. Spooner’s work with the PICCC is helping to build capacity to understand and adapt to these changes to the lands, waters, and seas that sustain the unique and diverse biocultural heritage of the Pacific.
Spooner is co-author of the 2012 report issued by the Pacific Islands Regional Climate Assessment titled Climate Change and Pacific Islands: Indicators and Impacts and contributing author of the 2014 National Climate Assessment Chapter on Hawai`i and U.S. Affiliated Pacific Islands. She holds a B.A from U.C. Berkeley and a J.D. from U.C. Hastings, where she focused on environmental law and policy.