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With more than 20 years in the environmental sector, I have extensive experience in climate change mitigation, forest conservation, and sustainable development for peace building purposes. My skills and abilities in problem solving, management, communication, and leadership, as well as my vision and passion, have enabled me to efficiently lead research and conservation efforts, develop and review policies, facilitate partnerships, oversee operational and technical activities, and manage intercultural contexts. I am confident in my capacity to implement cutting-edge frameworks that promote sustainability and peace building.
Academic background
PhD Ecology, 2019, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Honorable Mention
MSc. Tropical Ecology, 2006, Universiteit van Amsterdam, Cum Laude
Biologist, 2001, Universidad de Los Andes
Work experience
  1.  Biomass Quantification and Estimation Expert. Management and Engineering Technologies International, Inc. (METI), March 2022 – Ongoing, Provide support to the SilvaCarbon program – US Forest Service International Programs (USFS/IP) in Latin America in the areas of intensive monitoring sites, national forest inventory, uncertainty analysis, and general terrestrial carbon estimation.
  2.  Consultant. United Nations, October 2021-April 2022, Support the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in the Full Lands Integration Tool (FLINT) improvement used for the greenhouse gases (GHG) inventories development and the implementation of mitigation actions in the Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) sector, by adding the functions required to estimate the changes in carbon stocks in the Dead Organic Matter (DOM) pool and account for the associated emissions and removals.
  3.  Technical Project Coordinator. Fondo Acción, September 2021-March 2022, Lead the subscription, implementation and monitoring of sustainable use and conservation agreements with vulnerable peasant population, who inhabit, occupy, and/or carry out traditional uses associated with the peasant economy in areas that are part of the national system of protected areas, as part of the activities carried out by the National Natural Parks Unit of Colombia within the framework of the Program for the adoption and implementation of a rural-urban multipurpose cadaster.
  4.  Consultant. Fiduagraria S.A., September 2021-March 2022, Support the Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies (IDEAM), as the main writer of the Emissions Reduction Program document (ERPD) for the Orinoquia region (Colombia) in accordance with the requirements of the ISFL-ER Program, within the framework of the Low Carbon Sustainable Development project in the Orinoquia region.
  5.  Consultant. The Fletcher School at Tufts University, September 2021-November 2021, Create an inventory of climate policies in Colombia related to Colombia’s efforts to limit greenhouse gases and achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 as well as policies designed to respond to climate change.
  6.  Short Term Consultant (STC). The World Bank, April 2021-September 2021, Provide professional services to support the World Bank (WB) in the implementation of the ISFL Colombia program.
  7.  Individual Consultant. Global Green Growth Institute, March 2021-July 2021, Provide professional services to support GGGI generating technical inputs for selected products from the Green Growth Program phase II.
  8.  Senior Advisor. Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, March 2019 – February 2021, Advice the Deputy Minister of Environment on aspects related to the establishment, approval and review of policies, program and project management related to sustainable forest management, conservation and deforestation control, multipurpose cadaster, amongst others, especially in post-conflict areas. Support for issues related to the post-accession process to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) agenda.
  9.  MRV Expert. EcoPartners LLC/ANTHROTECT S.A.S., July 2018-March 2019, Support the USAID Paramos y Bosques (P&B) Program in the verification of REDD + projects under the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) and the Climate, Community and Biodiversity (CCB) standards; strengthen the Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies (IDEAM) and the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development in measuring, monitoring, and reporting the reserves and fluxes of carbon and other greenhouse gases in forests, paramos and other strategic ecosystems.
  10.  Carbon monitoring Coordinator, National Forest and Carbon Monitoring System. IDEAM/Patrimonio Natural, February 2017-December 2018, Lead the operation of the carbon-monitoring component of the Forest and Carbon Monitoring System (SMBYC), which allows the generation of national reports of emissions from deforestation, especially from the Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Uses (AFOLU) sector.
  11.  Consultant. Inter-American Development Bank, October 2016-December 2016, Technical support for the design of the Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action (NAMA) for the Colombian forest sector.
  12.  National Forest Inventory Coordinator. Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, February 2015-December 2016, Coordinate, promote and guide the implementation of the National Forest Inventory (IFN).
  13.  Carbon expert. National Forest and Carbon Monitoring System IDEAM/Fundación Natura/Patrimonio Natural, September 2009-December 2014, Develop methodologies, protocols, and procedures to quantify, estimate and monitor the carbon stored in natural ecosystems. Quantify and estimate the carbon stored in natural ecosystems at the national and sub-national level. Coordinate the design of the carbon subsystem of the national forest and carbon monitoring system and support its consolidation, in support of the Environmental and Management Policy in Colombia.
  14.  Senior Environmental Scientist. Fundación Puerto Rastrojo, January 2001-September 2009, Manage the general process of gathering, organizing, summarizing, analyzing, and interpreting biodiversity data and coordinate the monitoring design, the sampling, and analysis of physical, chemical, and biological attributes over different spatial and temporal scales. Conduct research, development, and demonstration collaborative projects. Responsible for development and implementation of long-term biodiversity conservation actions and biodiversity management plans. Building, maintaining, and administering databases. Developing technical documentation. GIS analysis.
Selected publications

Pos, E., de Souza Coelho, L., de Andrade Lima Filho, D., (…), Phillips, J.F., et al. 2023. Unraveling Amazon tree community assembly using Maximum Information Entropy: a quantitative analysis of tropical forest ecology. Scientific Reports 13, 2859, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-28132-y

Correa, D.F., Stevenson, P.R., Umaña, M.N., Souza Coelho, L., (…), Phillips, J.F., et al. 2023. Geographic patterns of tree dispersal modes in Amazonia and their ecological correlates. Global Ecology and Biogeography 32 (1), https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13596

ter Steege, H., Prado, P.I., Lima, R.A.F.d., (…) Phillips, J.F., et al. 2020. Biased-corrected richness estimates for the Amazonian tree flora. Scientific Reports 10, 10130, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-66686-3

González-Caro, S., Duque, A., Feeley, K.J., Cabrera, E., Phillips, J., Ramírez, S. & Yepes, A. 2020. The legacy of biogeographic history on the composition and structure of Andean forests. Ecology, https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.3131

ter Steege, H., Prado, P.I., Lima, R.F., Pos, E., de Souza Coelho, L., de Andrade Lima Filho, L., (…), Chave, J., van Andel, T., Hilario, R.R., Phillips, J.F., et al. 2020. Biased-corrected richness estimates for the Amazonian tree flora. Scientific Reports 10: 10130, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-66686-3.

Phillips, J., Ramirez, S., Wayson, C. & Duque, A. 2019. Differences in carbon stocks along an elevational gradient in tropical mountain forests of Colombia. Biotropica, DOI: 10.1111/btp.12675.

Ramírez, S., González-Caro, S., Phillips, J., Cabrera, E., Feeley, K.J. & Duque, A. 2019. The influence of historical dispersal on the phylogenetic structure of tree communities in the tropical Andes. Biotropica, DOI: 10.1111/btp.12661.

Rodríguez-Veiga, P., Barbosa-Herrera, A.P., Barreto-Silva, J.S., Bispo, P.C., Cabrera, E., Capachero, C., Galindo, G., Gou, Y., Moreno, L.M., Louis, V., Lozano, P., Pacheco-Pascagaza, A.M., Pachon-Cendales, I.P., Phillips-Bernal, J.F., Roberts, J., Salinas, N.R., Vergara, L., Zuluaga, A.C. & Balzter, H. 2019. Mapping the Spatial Distribution of Colombia’s Forest Aboveground Biomass Using SAR and Optical Data. ISPRS International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, XLII-3/W7, 57-60, 10.5194/isprs-archives-XLII-3-W7-57-2019

Levis, C., Costa, F.R.C., Bongers, F., Peña-Claros, M., Clement, C.R., Junqueira, A.B., Neves, E.G., Tamanaha, E.K., Figueiredo, F.O.G., Salomão, R. P., (…), Malhi, Y., de Andrade Miranda, I.P., Phillips, J.F., et al. 2017. Persistent effects of pre-Columbian plant domestication on Amazonian forest composition. Science 355 (6328): 925-931, doi: 10.1126/science.aal0157.

Phillips, J., Duque, A., Scott, C., Wayson, C., Galindo, G., Cabrera, E., Chave, J., Peña, M., Álvarez, E., Cárdenas, D., Duivenvoorden, J., Hildebrand, P., Stevenson, P., Ramírez, S. & Yepes, A. 2016. Live aboveground carbon stocks in natural forests of Colombia. Forest Ecology and Management 374: 119-128.

Esquivel Muelbert, A., Baker, T.R., Dexter, K., Lewis, S.L., ter Steege, H., Lopez-Gonzalez, G., Monteagudo Mendoza, A., Brienen, R., Feldpausch, T.R., (…), Palacios Cuenca, W., Pallqui Camacho, N.C., Peacock, J., Phillips, J.F., et al. 2016. Seasonal drought limits tree species across the Neotropics. Ecography 39: 001-012, doi: 10.1111/ecog.01904.

ter Steege, H., Pitman, N.C.A., Killeen, T.J., Laurance, W.F., Peres, C.A., Guevara, J.E., Salomão, R.P., Castilho, C.V., Amaral, I.L., (…), Di Fiore, A., Phillips, J.F., et al. 2015. Estimating the global conservation status of more than 15.000 Amazonian tree species. Science Advances 1 (10): e1500936, DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1500936.

ter Steege, H., Pitman, N., Sabatier, D., Baraloto, C., Salomão, R., Ernesto-Guevara, J.E., (…), Jimenez, E.M., Peñuela-Mora, M.C., Phillips, J.F., et al. 2013. Hyper-dominance in Amazonia tree flora. Science 18 (342): DOI: 10.1126/science.1243092.

Asner, G.P., Clark, J.K., Mascaro, J., Galindo-García, G.A., Chadwick, K.D., Navarrete-Encinales, D.A., Paez-Acosta, G., Cabrera-Montenegro, E., Kennedy-Bowdoin, T., Duque, A., Balaji, A., von Hildebrand, P., Maatoug, L., Phillips-Bernal, J.F., Knapp, D.E., García-Dávila, M.C., Jacobson, J. & Ordóñez, M.F. 2012. High-resolution Mapping of Forest Carbon Stocks in the Colombian Amazon. Biogeosciences Discussions 9: 2445-2479.

Yepes-Quintero, A., Duque-Montoya, A.J., Navarrete-Encinales, D., Phillips-Bernal, J., Cabrera-Montenegro, E., Corrales-Osorio, A., Álvarez-Dávila, E., Galindo-García, G., García-Dávila, M.C., Idárraga, A. & Vargas-Galvis, D. 2012. Estimación de las reservas y pérdidas de carbono por deforestación en los bosques del departamento de Antioquia, Colombia. Actualidades Biológicas 33 (95): 193-208.

Duque Montoya, A.J., Navarrete, D., Yepes, A., Phillips, J.F., Cabrera, K.R., López, E.W., Rivera, C.M., García, M.C. & Ordónez, M.F. 2011. Madera muerta: Un reservorio de Carbono en bosques naturales de Colombia. Aproximación metodológica para su medición en el marco de proyectos REDD+. Boletín Agrometeorológico Mensual Sabana de Bogotá y Valle de Ubaté 1 (1): 27 – 29, ISSN: 0122-8536.

Duque Montoya, A.J., Álvarez, E., Saldarriaga, J.G., Cabrera, K.R., Yepes, A., Navarrete, D., Phillips, J.F., García, M.C. & Ordónez, M.F. 2010. Selección y validación de modelos para la estimación de la biomasa aérea en los bosques naturales de Colombia. Boletín Agrometeorológico Mensual Sabana de Bogotá y Valle de Ubaté 1 (1): 31, ISSN: 0122–8536.

Duque, A.J., Phillips, J.F., von Hildebrand, P., Posada, C.A., Prieto, A., Rudas, A., Suescún, M. & Stevenson, P. 2009. Distance Decay of Tree Species Similarity in Protected Areas on Terra-Firme Forests in Colombian Amazonia. Biotropica 41: 599-607.