Dr. Andrea C. Simonelli
(Formerly: Andrea C. S. Berringer)
Founder
Dr. Andrea C. Simonelli is an author, researcher, advocate, and the Founder of Adaptation Strategies International. She holds a M.A. and Ph.D. in political science from Louisiana State University focused on governance responses to human migration; specifically legal and institutional frameworks to address internal and cross border displacement due to climate processes. Additionally she earned a diploma from the United Nations University Environment and Human Security Programme and Oxford’s Refugee Studies Centre Summer School in Forced Migration. Andrea is a speaker for the Climate Voices Network, sits on the roster of experts for the Adaptation Fund and the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN), is a member of the Human Rights and Climate Change Working Group (HRCCWG), an Associate with Millennium Alliance for Humanity & the Biosphere (MAHB), and serves on the Board of Directors for Many Strong Voices. Dr. Simonelli has been an external expert and consultant for the French National Research Agency (ANR) and the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST). She was previously a Research Associate with a project regarding the Perceptions of Climate and Migration funded by the Norwegian Research Council (NRC) with significant field work in the Maldives and a Research Fellow with the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL). Her time with CIEL provided her access to the 18th and 19th UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP) meetings in Doha, Qatar and Warsaw Poland, respectively, as well as participation in additional intercessional meetings.
Prior to her work on international governance and climate induced migration and displacement, Andrea received her B.A in Political Theory and Constitutional Democracy from Michigan State University’s James Madison College. She spent over 10 years as a finance director for US political candidates, electing a County Commissioner, multiple State Representatives, a State Senator, and a US Congressman in her tenure.
Prior to her work on international governance and climate induced migration and displacement, Andrea received her B.A in Political Theory and Constitutional Democracy from Michigan State University’s James Madison College. She spent over 10 years as a finance director for US political candidates, electing a County Commissioner, multiple State Representatives, a State Senator, and a US Congressman in her tenure.
Dr. Jacqueline Meijer-Irons
Founding Partner
Jacqueline Meijer-Irons is currently a Research Scientist at the Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology at the University of Washington in Seattle. She completed her PhD in Public Policy and Management at the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Policy at Governance, with a Graduate Certificate in Demographic Methods. Her research focuses on demographic determinants of subjective assessments of vulnerability to weather hazards, as well as migration as an adaptive response to environmental and economic shocks. She has extensive experience with complex datasets and data management.
Jacqueline as presented her work at a number of climate change related conferences, including: the 2010 United Nations University Summer Academy on Social Vulnerability, the 2011 Nansen Conference on Climate Change and Displacement, the 2012 Berlin Conference on Evidence for Sustainable Development, the IUSSP Seminar on Demographic Differential Vulnerability to Natural Disasters in the Context of Climate Change Adaptation, and more recently, the 2016 Adaptation Futures Conference in Rotterdam.
In addition to her PhD, she earned a Masters in Public Administration from the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Washington, and a BA in Integrative Biology from the University of California, Berkeley.
Jacqueline as presented her work at a number of climate change related conferences, including: the 2010 United Nations University Summer Academy on Social Vulnerability, the 2011 Nansen Conference on Climate Change and Displacement, the 2012 Berlin Conference on Evidence for Sustainable Development, the IUSSP Seminar on Demographic Differential Vulnerability to Natural Disasters in the Context of Climate Change Adaptation, and more recently, the 2016 Adaptation Futures Conference in Rotterdam.
In addition to her PhD, she earned a Masters in Public Administration from the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Washington, and a BA in Integrative Biology from the University of California, Berkeley.
Heather Croshaw, J.D., LL.M., M.E.M.
Founding Partner
Heather Croshaw is a Visiting Attorney at the Environmental Law Institute and co-founder and consultant at Adaptation Strategies International. She has a Juris Doctor and LL.M. in Environmental Law from Vermont Law School, focusing on international, environmental and climate change law. At VLS, Heather was a Joint-Research Fellow at the US-China Partnership for Environmental Law, a Human Rights Fellow at the Center for Applied Human Rights, and attended the 18th and 19th Conferences of the Parties for the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Also, she has a Masters of Environmental Management with a focus on Environmental Economics and Policy and International Development from the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University. Her Master’s Project focused on the conflict in Darfur, the natural resource and climate change dynamics, and how adaptation is key to sustainable peace. Heather is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College with a Bachelor of Arts in Politics and a Minor in Chemistry. Heather’s current research projects include tracking the UNFCCC negotiations, including the Warsaw Mechanism for loss and damage, and climate adaptation; disaster risk reduction and resilience; internally displaced persons in the Maldives; and benefit-sharing natural resource trust funds and transparency.