Development professional with over sixteen years of experience living and working in the Pacific region, namely Samoa. A national-level consultant specializing in project management, rural livelihoods development, community outreach, policy and statistical analysis and digital innovation in various thematic areas related to international development such as agriculture, environment and industry. Over eight years managing public affairs, political, economic, and military portfolios for U.S. Embassy Apia. Experienced managing numerous grants, programs, media campaigns, development projects, budgets, volunteer placements, and humanitarian missions involving various federal agencies, host nation governments, and civil society organizations. Experienced office leader in a cross-cultural setting. Excellent at multi-tasking and delivering quality work in a timely manner.
James Lewis, Director of Intercoastal Consulting, is a certified practicing civil engineer with over 15 years of experience specialising in coastal engineering throughout Australasia and across the Pacific. He has a broad knowledge of coastal protection design, integrated coastal management and surf amenity. James’s skills extend outside the office where he has led large-scale metocean deployments, analysing the data captured in the field to calibrate numerical models used to inform coastal design.
He has focussed the last 10 years of his career on working in Small Island Developing States (SIDs) in climate change adaptation, concerned primarily with developing climate-resilient coastal protection. James aspires to see the design phase through to implementation; having supported procurement, and contracting and undertaken construction supervision on large projects in remote locations. He aims to provide value and support through the complete project lifecycle including the social, financial and institutional aspects of these projects, endeavoring to understand the administrative, governmental and funding mechanisms specific to each country and community and their relation to the delivery of a successful project.
Using his knowledge of coastal engineering, the ocean and the environment, James’ primary endeavor is to assist coastal communities most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
Ruth is a climate change, environment and international development professional, with a particular focus on climate resilience, adaptation planning, and climate finance readiness. She has 9 years’ experience providing policy research, analysis, implementation and project/programme management in these fields, working extensively with a range of donors/international development partners and national governments worldwide. Ruth's recent assignments have included supporting countries with INDCs, capacity building support, contributing to the evaluation of EU adaptation strategy implementation and leading inputs to the EU’s 7th national communications.
Prior to joining Ricardo, Ruth was Climate Finance Adviser for the Commonwealth, where she designed and led a work programme on climate finance readiness and resilience, focusing on improving the access, use and delivery of climate finance for small and vulnerable member states, including the Commonwealth Climate Finance Skills Hub proposal.
I am a lawyer by profession and is currently the People’s Lawyer for Tuvalu. I holds a Master of Law in Government and Regulation from the Australia National University, Professional Diploma in Legal Drafting (PDLD), Professional Diploma in Legal Practice (PDLP) and BA/LLB degree from University of the South Pacific .
I have been practiced as a lawyer in Tuvalu for more than 10 years. For 6 years, I worked as a government lawyer in the Office of the Attorney-General (OAG) of Tuvalu and then as the People’s Lawyer in the Office of the People’s Lawyer (OPL).
In the OAG, I worked as a government litigator, prosecutor, legal drafter and represented the Government in national and international conferences.
As the People’s Lawyer I became both the public solicitor and defender and also managed the OPL. I involved in alternative dispute resolution settlements and work directly with the people. I also conducted public education and awareness for the people and capacity building for OPL staff.
I have worked in the field of environment for over 15 years started
1997-2004 worked for the Government of Samoa Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (Principal Capacity Building Officer), lead environmental trainings, awareness and communication programmes
2004-2008 UNDP-GEF Small Grants Programme Manager (Samoa, Cook Islands, Niue and Tokelau) covering 5 GEF Focal Areas of Biodiversity, Climate Change and Adaptation, International Waters, Land Degradation, and Persistent Organic Pollutants. Worked with grassroot level with Civil Society Groups (village communities, NGOs, Women, Youth, Faith Based Groups)
late 2008 - 2016 Conservation International from 2008-2013 I worked as the Regional Programme Manager for the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (22 PICs), 2013- 2016 Terrestrial Director worked in Ecosystem-based Adaptation and Biodiversity Conservation Management;
mid 2016 to present - Consultant World Bank Project - PPCR Enhancing Community Resilience.
I am the Managing Director for the Pacific Science Solutions, a science consultancy service based in Suva, Fiji. I have a major in climatology (Bachelor of Science) from Macquarie University, Australia and my first job was as a scientific officer at the Fiji Meteorological Services in January 1993. I was heading the Fiji Climate Service Division by the time I left the service in 2001 and I moved to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. In January 2004, I became the Team Leader for an Australian Government funded project titled Pacific Islands Climate Prediction Project (PICPP). I continued managing the project until February 2012 when I moved onto to managing a much larger Australian funded (AUD 33.3M) program known Climate and Ocean Support Program in the Pacific (COSPPac).
Both projects involved at least 10 Pacific Islands. I have co-authored several WMO publications, and have been a member of a WMO working groups. I have been recognised as a regional expert on climate services.
Fifteen years managing development finance in Europe, Africa and Asia-Pacific and six years in small island developing states. Expert building country systems and partnerships for development. Climate change, resilience building, infrastructure, gender equality, blue/green economy, public health, education and governance program experience.
Clive Carpenter is a BSc and MSc qualified water resources specialist with more than 25 years international development experience including more than 15 years specialising in Small Island Developing States. Between 2001-2004 Clive designed and managed the Pacific Region Water, Sanitation and Hygiene programme based at SOPAC. During this time he facilitated the Pacific Regional Action Plan on Sustainable Water Management, Pacific Policy and Framework for Action on Wastewater Management and set up the Pacific Water Partnership, advising the Pacific SIDS Missions at the UN Commission on Sustainable Development and at the EU Water Facility.
Since 2004 Clive has worked as a consultant in the Pacific, Indian, Atlantic and Caribbean SIDS on water resources, water supply infrastructure and water governance projects across the full project cycle including design, implementation and monitoring & evaluation, including climate change adaptation, WASH and disaster risk reduction initiatives.
Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) technical expert and program manager with a ten-year proven track record in successfully leading large, complex ICT projects, particularly in development, health and education. Proven skills in knowledge and skills transfer having spearheaded the development and production of several high-level strategic project reports, briefings and case studies. Easily adaptable to multicultural environments having led ICT projects in Fiji, Kiribati, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and Australia.
Consultancy: Conducted consultancy on water quality testing and training for sanitation and water assessment technicians in Samoa. Currently part of team member drafting Samoa's GEF-SGP country programme strategy for its 6th Operational Programme. Drafted methodology for Samoa's second greenhouse inventory. Drafted primary science curriculum for Samoa. Lessons learnt from completed consultancies have been applied to research and teaching to a student community and applied to the assessment of community climate change resilience and conservation projects. Work experience: Researcher on water quality assessment using conventional methods; currently trialing the use of DNA technology for water assessment. Background in ocean acidification. Project member for EU-funded EDULINK Project on Education for Sustainable Development and Pace-Net Plus Project on Health, Food security, marine and maritime and inland water research, Climate change. Experience in budgetary and report writing
I have over 20 years experience in the field of environmental science; specifically focusing on impact assessments of developments in the areas of infrastructure and energy. My expertise although specifically in the area of geology has expanded to cover community development as the study of EIA now encompasses both environmental and social factors of affected communities. My strength in conducting EIA is based on my great understanding of natural processes through the study of geology which allows me to suggest timely mitigation measures to minimize identified impacts of the project on the environment. My working experiences in the petroleum industry gave me great understanding of their operational procedures and likely impacts of fume and leakages on the environment, especially the groundwater lens. My clients range from national (i.e. Tonga) ministries and corporations to regional and international agencies
Project and Programme Design, Preparation, Implementation and Evaluation
Capacity Building, including training, institutional strengthening and policy development and planning
Disaster and Climate Risk Assessments and Management - nationally as well as for specific sectors, islands and communities
Climate and Disaster Risk Reduction Financing