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Senior Climate Services Director Brian App
Brian App is an international natural resource management specialist with over 20 years of experience working in the environment, natural resources, and climate sectors. Brian currently serves as the Senior Director for the Environment and Natural Resources practice team, where he supports project and proposal teams across Chemonics’ global portfolio to advance technical excellence and create development impact by generating, capturing, and sharing technical knowledge in the sector. Previously, he served as a Senior Climate Services Director in Chemonics’ Climate Group and worked in the East and Southern Africa region as Deputy Chief of Party for the Southern Regional Environmental Program and Home Office Director for the Resilient Waters and VukaNow programs to improve transboundary watershed management and combat wildlife crime. Brian holds a bachelor’s degree in management science from the State University of New York and master’s of science in international natural resource management from the University of Montana.
by Brian App
Conservation Trust Funds and the Cubango-Okavango River Basin
River basins host complex and interrelated natural and human communities which depend on the basins’ resources to survive and thrive. Planning and managing resources at the basin level are critical to understanding interactions and addressing impacts to mutually benefit people, ecosystems, and wildlife. While natural systems know no boundaries, these basins often span national boundaries…
Are Climate Programs the Most Effective Use of Climate Funding?
With the anticipated resurgence of climate change on the U.S. development agenda, the objectives of reducing atmospheric carbon (mitigation) and increasing climate resilience (adaptation) will again be front and center. It is, therefore, critical that those designing and implementing climate programming reflect on the programmatic options and identify the ones with the greatest potential to…
From the Highlands to the Deltas: Why We Need Integrated Water Security Programming
Whether building strong economies, improving human health, or supporting thriving ecosystems, water is an integral and interconnected element with impacts far outside of the water sector in global development. While improved water management can reduce treatment costs and deliver valuable ecosystem services, poorly managed upstream resources can undermine investments in drinking water delivery. Cases from…
Development Works Here with Brian App
We’d like you to meet Brian App! Brian is a natural resource management specialist with nearly 20 years of experience working in the environmental sector. From flipping through the pages of National Geographic to building more water-secure communities in Africa, he shares some of the highlights of his development journey. Brian is one reason #DevelopmentWorksHere.…
The Problem with “Success Now”: A Story of Adaptive Management
Although adaptive management is widely promoted — and often required — for development programs, its basic principles can be difficult to adhere to. Strict timelines and prescribed indicators often demand immediate success — success now. How do we implement this seemingly simple approach, which is measured by failure more than success, and requires experienced technical…
Diffusing Land-Use Conflict with Science and Transparency
The challenge of equitable and efficient land allocation Land-use decision making forces politicians and land managers to grapple with choices that pit one interest group against another, and every decision seems destined to create conflict. But what if potential land uses could be ranked and supported by science? Are there win-win scenarios out there, waiting…