Larry Swatuk

Professor
University of Waterloo

For the past three years, I have served as an EnPax Vice President. During this time, I have contributed to the growth and direction of the association through, for example, leadership on flagship publications such as the Glossary (forthcoming from Routledge), conferences (including off-cycle events such as the upcoming Water Energy Peace Nexus workshop in Ottawa), and strategic planning. As an emeritus professor, I feel that I will be able to devote significant time to the role and it would be my honour to continue to work alongside such a dynamic team.

Tracy Hart

Global Lead, Fragile and Conflict States, Environment, Natural Resource, and the Blue Economy
World Bank

Greetings. I would like you to serve you as a Vice President of EnPAx.

I am currently contributing to EnPAx as a member of the Scientific Committee for the Fourth International Conference on Environmental Peacebuilding; I was on the same committee for the previous conference. I also am a member of the Climate Change, Disasters, and Resilience Interest Group.

I am part of a team working on the intersection of natural resource asset management and fragility and conflict at the World Bank, which has been an institutional member of EnPAx since 2022.  Our team leads an internal community of practice on Environment, Fragility and Conflict of 200+ staff, facilitating links between our work and the work of the international community of practice of EnPAx. Our work includes Defueling Conflict: Environment and Natural Resource Management as a Pathway to Peace (please insert https://documents.worldbank.org/en/publication/documents-reports/documentdetail/099520010272224660/p1771510b38fda01e0afec01edd810d8cde), which has been accessed by readers in more than 120 countries.

My EnPAx profile can be found here (https://www.environmentalpeacebuilding.org/news/profiles/show/e52ae2a09ad5). My LinkedIn profile is https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracyehart/.  In short, I will share that I am an economist by training, an environmental impact assessment professional by trade, and a Quaker in practice.

My interests in contributing to EnPAx include strengthening its core value-added in relation to adjacent climate, development, environmental, humanitarian, peace, and security communities of practice.  This “reimagining” also includes continuing to strengthen EnPAx’s positioning relative to our constellation of institutional actors of academia, government, NGOs, private foundations, and multilateral organizations. 

I am eager to learn from those EnPAx leadership team members who will be overlapping me in their terms.  I also would like to hear from any EnPAx member who would like to share their views with me on how we can continue to grow EnPAx; please contact me at thart@worldbank.org and/or tracyehart@gmail.com.

Ida Herdieckerhoff

Doctoral Researcher
University of Eastern Finland

I would like to submit my candidacy for the position of Director for the Board of Directors of the Environmental Peacebuilding Association (EnPAx). As a young professional working in the fields of environmental collaboration and conflict resolution, I wholeheartedly believe in EnPAx’s mission to work on the nexus of conflict, natural resources management, and peace for healthy and peaceful societies underpinned by nature. With a background as the coordinator of the Environmental Collaboration and Conflict Resolution Network (ECCR) as well as a doctoral candidate in environmental policy, I engage in participatory research and collaborative networks that reflect the values of interdisciplinary exchange and knowledge co-creation. I am particularly interested in the intersection of nature, conflict resolution and sustainable development through collaborative approaches. I aim to bring this passion to EnPAx and support its meaningful engagement with scholars from different regions of the world, bridge academic research and practice and further promote dialogues on intensifying environmental challenges. I believe this role presents a profound opportunity to make a meaningful contribution to a global community that sees the transformative potential of environmental peacebuilding. I am excited about the opportunity to actively contribute to EnPAx’s mission and support a diverse and impactful community. Thank you for your consideration!

McKenzie Johnson

Associate Professor
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

McKenzie Johnson is an Associate Professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Her research sits at the confluence of environmental politics, environmental security, and environmental justice. She is particularly interested in the conflict and peacebuilding implications of environmental governance. McKenzie has worked in the area of environment, conflict, and peacebuilding for the past 18 years, both as a researcher and practitioner, in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, India, South Sudan, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Colombia, and the United States. Her work, which builds directly on the foundations of early environmental peacebuilding research, has advanced our understand of the mechanisms linking environment and peace. McKenzie received her PhD from Duke University in 2017. She worked for the Wildlife Conservation Society – Afghanistan from 2007-2010. The Association conducted a profile of McKenzie’s work in 2023. McKenzie has ongoing research in Colombia that examines the relationship between land cover change, conflict, and peacebuilding. This project explores how the environment and natural resources have shaped peacebuilding efforts and outcomes in the wake of the 2016 Peace Agreement. In 2021, she co-authored a review of the intrastate environmental peacebuilding literature in the journal World Development to identify the causal mechanisms linking environment and peacebuilding. She was awarded the Enhancing the Environmental Peacebuilding Knowledge Base in 2022 for this work. McKenzie widely publishes in leading journals, including Global Environmental Change, Global Environmental Politics, and International Affairs. McKenzie has been associated with the Environmental Peacebuilding Association since its inception and is excited by the opportunity to apply her skills and knowledge to help shape the Association in the capacity of Director. She is in a position to contribute more time to the critical work of the Association after receiving tenure in 2025. She is a member of the Editorial Board for Environment and Security and has supported many of the Association’s initiatives.

Ali Ibrahim

Senior Consultant and Director of Programs & Operations
Acacia Dialogue Center

I am honored to submit my nomination for the role of Director of the Environmental Peacebuilding Association, bringing over 15 years of leadership experience at the intersection of peacebuilding, climate security, governance, and resilience programming in fragile and conflict-affected contexts across the Horn and Eastern Africa. In my roles as Director of Programs & Operations at Acacia Dialogue Center and Chief of Party for Equal Access International, I have led the design and delivery of multi-sectoral portfolios integrating environmental governance, natural resource management, conflict resolution, and climate adaptation. My work has included conducting climate–conflict–gender analyses, facilitating inclusive dialogue on climate adaptation in conflict-prone areas, and advising governments and international partners on nature-based solutions for peace and resilience. I have collaborated with a wide range of stakeholders—governments, civil society, local communities, and donors such as UN agencies, FCDO, USAID, SDC, and the EU—to co-create policies and programs that address the root causes of environmental degradation and violent conflict. This has included contributions to national reconciliation frameworks, climate-security policies, and cross-border resource governance strategies. My motivation for serving as a Director stems from a deep commitment to advancing the environmental peacebuilding agenda globally. I believe the Association has a unique role in bridging the gap between research, policy, and practice, and in amplifying locally led solutions to environmental challenges that threaten peace and security. If elected, I would bring my field-tested experience, policy acumen, and strong network to expand the Association’s reach, foster global South representation, and strengthen practitioner–researcher linkages. I am committed to championing inclusive, evidence-based, and innovative approaches that make environmental peacebuilding a central pillar of conflict prevention and sustainable development worldwide.

Celestine Procter

Senior Fellow
AfP

I am nominating myself to serve on the ENPAX Association Board to contribute practical, system-level insight from over two decades of designing and delivering programming in fragile, conflict, and post-conflict environments across Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia. As Research and Insight Director at SaltLines Geo and with prior senior leadership roles at DAI, Creative Associates, and others, I have led strategic development across climate change adaptation, conflict stabilization, governance, economic growth, and environmental programming. My work has consistently focused on integrating robust monitoring, evaluation, and learning systems to ensure data-driven, adaptive, and sustainable programming. Throughout my career, I have engaged with host governments, civil society, donors, and the private sector, strengthening accountability and transparency while fostering resilience in complex contexts. My technical background in peacebuilding, human rights, and climate change, combined with a commitment to participatory and locally led approaches, aligns with ENPAX’s mission to advance effective peace practice. I am particularly interested in serving on the Board to support ENPAX’s strategic positioning at the nexus of peace, climate, and governance, contributing to knowledge exchange, ethical data practices, and practical guidance for practitioners working in challenging environments. I would bring extensive experience in cross-sectoral programming and coalition-building, alongside an ability to translate complex systems thinking into actionable strategies for peace practitioners. I believe ENPAX plays a vital role in promoting responsible, evidence-based peacebuilding and would be honoured to contribute to its mission and community of practice.

Alexandra Turgul

PhD Student; Transboundary Freshwater Disputes Database Manager
Oregon State University

I have been a member of EnPAx since the very beginning, back in 2018. I have had the privilege of watching the Association grow into the thriving community that it is today and have experienced firsthand the important opportunities that the Association offers to young professionals such as myself. I was introduced to EnPAx when I was a volunteer researcher with ELI, at a time when I was applying to doctoral programs and looking for an opportunity to network, explore my interests in environmental peacebuilding, and gain research experience outside of academia. Over the last 6 years, the Association has played an important role in connecting me with a community of like-minded colleagues and providing opportunities to further my professional development. As the Young Professionals Director of the Association, I will advocate to expand the role of the Association in advancing the professional development of its youngest members. I envision providing quarterly opportunities for the young professionals in our network to connect and exchange ideas on research, job opportunities, and more. As the Young Professionals Director, I will harness the full potential of EnPAx to act as a vehicle for the advancement of our professional development by working with the rest of the board to provide opportunities such as conference preparation support, mentor matching, applied skills workshops, and spotlighting the work of our early career members.I look forward to helping foster the development of the next generation of scholars and practitioners working in our important field.

Juliane Schillinger

Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre

I am a technical advisor on climate and conflict for the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre and have had the pleasure of serving as the Young Professionals Director on the EnPAx board for the past three years already. Since joining EnPAx as a founding member in 2018, when I was just starting my own environmental peacebuilding journey and a PhD on water management during armed conflict, the EnPAx community has been central to my own professional development. For the next three years, I would like to continue working with the Young Professionals Interest Group, the Board of Directors, and the broader EnPAx membership to ensure that we continue to offer a valuable networking platform for young professionals around the world, and provide opportunities to shape the future of environmental peacebuilding – both in academia and in practice. I am also hoping to further expand our efforts to make the EnPAx membership more geographically diverse. For the past two EnPAx conferences, I served on the travel grant committee, which provided important insights on financial and other barriers to participation and broader engagement in environmental peacebuilding discussions. In my work with the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, I have been able to place environmental and climate security on the agenda of humanitarian organizations. I am committed to connecting humanitarian, peacebuilding, environment and climate fields to further explore the role of natural resources and climate change in humanitarian programming in conflict settings, including as chair of the anticipatory humanitarian action and conflict working group of the Anticipation Hub, and part of the Conflict and Environment Academic Network (CEAN).