Members in Action: Stephanie Mansourian, Director-at-Large

Stephanie Mansourian is one of the newly-elected Directors-at-Large on SER's Board of Directors. Her two-year term will begin in July.  We reached out to her to learn more about how she got into the field of ecological restoration, and about some of her current work.

What’s your current job?

I am currently heading my own consultancy firm working on a range of environmental topics. Before that for five years I managed WWF-International’s forest landscape restoration (FLR) program. It is great being your own boss and having the freedom to both choose the work you engage with, and to be flexible in your daily schedule. Of course, there are challenges, since you never know when the next contract might come in and most often, you suddenly get three contracts in one go with similar deadlines! While being your own boss is liberating, it can also be lonely. Nevertheless, overall it has been a great experience and has enabled me to work with multiple organizations - such as UN agencies, foundations and NGOs - and people from diverse backgrounds and cultures which has been a very enriching experience. Many of my clients and colleagues have become friends over time. There is also a snowball effect, with contracts leading to new clients, new clients leading to new colleagues, and new colleagues leading to new opportunities for collaboration. It has been a real privilege to engage with practitioners and scientists involved in similar work, for example, through networks such as SER or International Union of Forest Research Organizations.

How did your career launch?

My first real job was with WWF-International, where I managed project contracts for the Europe/Middle East program. At the time, the organization’s Mediterranean program was just being set up and I had the opportunity to engage more actively in the development of that program. Later, as I was managing WWF’s international FLR program, I realised that there was a need to provide guidance on FLR and decided to work with experts to develop a manual on FLR. Before we knew it, we had 73 authors involved and signed a book deal with Springer..! I was very proud when this first book came out in 2005, and it was translated into Chinese in 2011.

What projects are you working on right now?

My research interest is on governance and FLR. In the wider sense governance is about decision-making and when we scale up restoration, as is the case in FLR, a great many governance issues arise, such as what are tenure rights on the land to be restored? Who decides which species to restore? Who needs to be compensated for the opportunity cost of restoration? How are such decisions made? So many of these questions are overlooked by practitioners, and yet they are fundamental if we want to ensure the long-term persistence of restored sites.

What’s your favourite piece of field equipment?

I am privileged to live in Switzerland where you are always close to mountains, forests and lakes. On weekends I love to go walking in the forest with my husband and our dog, and always carry my binoculars in case we see some interesting bird species.

How long have you been a member of SER?

I became an SER member in 2017and as my interaction with the organization has intensified over time, I am extremely pleased and excited to now serve on the board of directors.

Thank you for joining our Board of Directors, Stephanie!