Biography

Dr. Natalie Dawson is a wildlife biologist and educator with over twenty years of experience learning from Alaska’s lands, waters and people. She draws inspiration from the dynamic synergy of public policy developed by communities across Alaska and builds partnerships to create positive change.

Before joining AVF, Natalie was the executive director of Audubon Alaska and a vice president for the National Audubon Society. She was an interdisciplinary studies professor at the University of Montana, where she led international leadership training programs and partnerships for global protected area managers through the U.S. Department of Interior, Department of Agriculture and Department of State. Prior to those positions, Natalie was a biologist on the Tongass National Forest, a public policy fellow with the American Institute of Biological Sciences in Washington, DC, and a research scientist at the USGS Alaska Science Center. Natalie continues to learn from the mountains and rivers that create the boundaries of her home on Lingit Ani, the traditional lands of the Jilkat Kwaan and Jilkoot Kwaan in Southeast Alaska’s Chilkat Valley.