Langston James "Kimo" Goree, United States of America

Director, IISD Reporting Services

Kimo is the Managing Editor of the Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB), the Director of IISD Reporting Services, and a founder of the Earth Negotiations Bulletin. He is responsible for the fundraising and overall coordination of the ENB, Linkages Update, the MEA Bulletin, the Linkages website, "Your Meeting Bulletin", and the Earth Negotiations Bulletin on the Side (ENBOTS). He also is the founder and moderator of AFRICASD-L, BIODIVERSITY-L, CHEMICALS-L, CLIMATE-L, ENERGY-L, FORESTS-L, LAND-L, MEA-L, WATER-L, OCEANS-L, SDG, and WATER-L.

Chris Spence, New Zealand
Deputy Director, IISD Reporting Services; Managing Editor, Linkages Update; and Thematic Expert for Climate and Atmosphere 

Chris is the Deputy Director of IISD Reporting Services and Managing Editor of Linkages Update. After joining the ENB team in 1998, Chris has worked in various roles, including as editor of Linkages Journal (1999-2001) and climate change team leader (1999-2002 and 2005-). After consulting for various UN agencies and other organizations in 2003 and 2004, and completing a book on global warming, Chris returned full time to IISD Reporting Services in early 2005 as the new Deputy Director. Before he joined IISD, Chris was a political researcher and speechwriter (1992-95), investigative journalist (1995-99) and lobbyist (1997-98). More information.

Lynn Wagner, Ph.D., United States of America

Editor, Linkages Update and MEA Bulletin; and Thematic Expert for Sustainable Development and Desertification

Lynn began writing for Earth Negotiations Bulletin in 1994 and is currently the editor for MEA Bulletin and Linkages Update. She received her Ph.D. in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), where she examined the relationship between negotiation processes and outcomes. She is the thematic expert for the Commission on Sustainable Development and Convention to Combat Desertification, but also has attended CBD sessions, the 1995 World Summit on Social Development, the Fourth World Conference on Women and Habitat II.

Diego Noguera, Colombia

Digital Manager, IISD Reporting Services, and Digital Editor, Linkages Update

Diego is the Digital Manager for IISD Reporting Services and Online Editor of Climate Change Policy & Practice. He is a good example of the new generation of online jobs, working mostly from Duitama while solving the technical and digital problems of staff and consultants in New York, Geneva, Winnipeg, and two dozen other cities worldwide. Diego has covered meetings for the Earth Negotiations Bulletin since 2003 and is the Digital Editor of MEA Bulletin and Linkages Update. Diego has a degree in Computer Science and a postgraduate degree in Networking and E-business.

Soledad Aguilar, LL.M., Argentina

Thematic Expert on Trade, Finance and Investment for Sustainable Development

Soledad is the Thematic Expert on Trade, Finance and Investment for Sustainable Development. She has participated in more than fifty multilateral environmental negotiations, mostly on finance and trade and environment issues within the climate change, biodiversity, biosafety and chemicals conventions, working for the Earth Negotiations Bulletin as writer and team leader, and previously as a negotiator and diplomat for the Argentine Government. She has also worked as a consultant on international environmental law for the World Bank and the Food and Agriculture Organization on issues including a post-2012 climate change framework, pest and pesticide management, and biofuels. She is a regular contributor to specialized environmental policy and law journals, and holds an LLM degree from the London School of Economics and law degree from University of Buenos Aires.

Asheline Appleton, LL.M., Kenya

Thematic Expert for Climate and Atmosphere

Asheline holds an LL.M. degree from University College London and a law degree from the University of Nairobi. She has specialized in international environmental law, particularly climate change and biodiversity. Asheline worked as a State Counsel for the Attorney-General in the department of treaties and agreements, Kenya, as well as in private practice. She now consults for a number of international organizations and UN agencies on environmental issues.

Melanie Ashton, Australia

Thematic Expert on Chemicals Management, International Organizations and Ozone Policy

Melanie holds an MSc in Environment and Development from the London School of Economics. Her dissertation analyzed the relationship between International Financial Institutions and developing country Governments in a Principal-Agent framework. Originally from Melbourne, she also holds a Bachelor of Science in Earth Sciences from the University of Melbourne. Melanie first attended international environmental negotiations as a member of the WSSD Youth Caucus and later as a consultant in the area of Persistent Organic Pollutants. She has worked extensively on chemical management and environmental issues throughout the South Pacific. In her spare time, Melanie can be found rock-climbing, snorkeling or on the dancefloor.

Alice Bisiaux, France

Thematic Expert on Water, Wetlands, Oceans and Coasts

Alice has a French and Anglo-American law degree from Nanterre Univeristy in Paris with a specialization in international law. She also holds a Masters in International Legal Studies from the New York University. Being a qualified lawyer in New York, England and Wales, Alice has worked in the Public International and Environmental law groups as an associate at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in London. In her spare time she likes to read, swim, and practice yoga.

Reem Hajjar, Lebanon/Canada

Thematic Expert on Forests

Reem has an MA in Conservation Biology from Columbia University, and a BSc in Biology from McGill. She is currently a consultant with the "Diversity for Livelihoods" programme at the International Plant Genetics Resources Institute (IPGRI) in Rome, Italy, where she's working on genetic diversity and ecosystem services. Although trained as a biologist, her Master's thesis was an analysis of the World Bank's forest policy and its potential implications for the Atlantic Forest region of Brazil. She speaks English, Arabic, French, Spanish, and Portuguese, and has conducted ecological fieldwork in many parts of Latin America. Besides trekking through tropical jungles, she enjoys cooking, swimming in oceans, and photographing urban jungles.

Renata Rubian, Brazil

Thematic Expert on Human Development

Renata lives in Sri Lanka, working as a Programme Analyst at the UNDP Asia Pacific Centre, developing the Regional Human Development Report series. Previously, she was a researcher at the Ecosystem and Livelihoods Group of the IUCN and at the UNEP - Convention on Biological Diversity. Her career with the UN system started at the UNDP in Brazil, intercalated by a year's break to work for the Canadian Government in Ottawa. She holds a MA in Political Science from McGill University and a BA in International Relations from the University of Brasilia. She was a co-founder of the first UN Simulation Model in Brazil – the 1997 Americas Model UN.

Elsa Tsioumani, LL.M., Greece

Thematic Expert for Biodiversity and Wildlife

Elsa lives in Thessaloniki, trying to finish her Ph.D. on European biosafety legislation and practice for her piano diploma. She holds a Law Degree and a Master in Public Law and Political Science from the University of Thessaloniki, and an LL.M. in European Law from the College of Europe in Belgium. She loves remote islands, Latin American literature, tiramisu, London, Radiohead, Almodovar, yoghurt with honey, book-shopping, and coffee and newspaper on a Sunday morning.