IUCN CEM Climate Change and Biodiversity Policy and Practice Thematic Group

Chair - Commission on Ecosystem Management. 

Dr. Vasseur is a full professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Brock University. She is a member of the Environmental Sustainability Research Centre and a Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute (CCOVI) fellow. Since 2014, she holds the UNESCO Chair on Community Sustainability: From Local to Global. Vasseur’s research program works at the nexus of several disciplines allowing her to develop transdisciplinary research that join issues such as conservation, sustainable agriculture, climate change adaptation and resilience, community-based ecosystem management, and ecosystem governance. Her research is in Canada, China, Ecuador, and Africa (including Benin and Morocco). In Canada, major projects focus on sustainable agriculture and climate change adaptation in rural and coastal communities, and conservation in the Niagara Biosphere. Aspects of gender, EDI, and cultural identities are important in her research in Canada and beyond (as a member of the UNESCO International Consultative Group of Experts for Closing the Gender Gap in Science). Stewardship also is part of the activities of her Chair where knowledge transfer and translation ensure accessibility of the research to all communities. Her community-research work with the City of greater Sudbury led her to receive in 2011 the Latornell Pioneers Award from Conservation Ontario. She has over 160 publications and more than 280 presentations as a researcher.

She is the deputy chair of the Commission for Ecosystem Management at the International Union for Conservation of Nature, co-lead of the Climate Change and Biodiversity Policy and Practice group, Chair of the North American region. She is also on the ICN Academy Advisory Committee and chaired the Knowledge Management Strategic Plan committee. She is currently co-Editor-in-Chief of Botany at the Canadian Science Publishing, member of the board of directors of Nature Canada, and former President of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO. 

Environmental Anthropologist with over 30 years of experience at the interface of biodiversity conservation, climate action and policy at national and global levels. She holds a degree in Anthropology with a specialization in ecology, as well as specializations in Geographical Landscape Analysis and Rural Surveys, and an MSc in Land Ecology and Land Evaluation.

She is the former Chair of the IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management (2017–2025) and served as Chair of the IUCN Global Standard for Nature-based Solutions (2021-2025), leading global efforts on high-integrity NbS, ecosystem restoration, and key knowledge frameworks such as the Global Ecosystem Typology and the Red List of Ecosystems.

She has held key leadership roles in climate policy, including Chair of the IUCN Climate Change Task Force (2017–2021) and member of the Steering Committee of the UNEP Adaptation Gap Report (2023–2025), She has contributed to over 60 publications and global assessments, including the Red List of Ecosystems of Colombia, whose author team received Colombia’s highest scientific recognition, the Alejandro Ángel Escobar National Award (2021).

Her career spans senior positions in the Government of Colombia (Ministry of Environment, National Geographical Institute and the Environmental authonomy of Bogota) and Conservation International, along with consulting roles for UNEP, FAO, GIZ, and multilateral development banks, contributing to major climate adaptation, restoration, and ecosystem management initiatives across Latin America.