Christine Pickens | Science Director

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christine pickens-1

Dr. Christine Pickens is a wetland ecologist with over 15 years of experience in ecological research, restoration project management, and partnership building on projects in North Carolina, Louisiana, Ohio, Georgia, and California. 

Christine has managed a diversity of projects including restoring coastal wetlands on barrier islands in the Gulf of Mexico, enhancing marsh and expanding oyster habitat in the Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds, re-wetting pocosin in northeastern North Carolina, and riverine restoration within the Cape Fear River Basin. 

She is adept at securing and administering federal, state, and private grant funding for large-scale restoration and conservation projects. A common theme in her work is utilizing partnerships to improve project impact. For example, she’s worked with municipalities, military partners, National Wildlife Refuges, private landowners, federal and state environmental agencies, and other conservation organizations.

As Science Lead for Unique Places to Save, Christine ensures that organizational decision-making is grounded in evidence-based knowledge. Her current on-the-ground efforts are focused on multidisciplinary coordination of dam removal and conservation of imperiled wetland types. She’s also expanding public access to and understanding of nature through park development and educational outreach.

Christine earned her Ph.D. in Environmental and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette where she researched mangrove and salt marsh interactions in response to climate change.

She also holds an M.S. in Biology from Bowling Green State University where she studied cavity-nesting bird behavioral ecology in oak savanna, and a B.A. in Biology from St. Mary’s College of Maryland.

Christine serves her local community as a volunteer Troop Co-Leader with the Girl Scouts. She is passionate about spending time in nature with her husband and three children.

photo of pyramid lake nevada

Sam Warnock, May 2025

The Lahontan Cutthroat Trout’s Remarkable Comeback

No species better embodies the dramatic story of America and its relationship with nature than the Lahontan cutthroat trout. Once thought extinct in much of its historic range, this relic of the Ice Age has defied the odds. It is now making...

photo of people kayaking in alligator creek nc

Christine Pickens, May 2025

Conserving a Transitional Wetland in a Rapidly Developing Estuary

In partnership with New Hanover Soil and Water Conservation District, and funding provided by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, 14 acres of floating marsh located on Eagles Island were permanently protected. This critical site expa...

photo of children playing outdoors

Mandi Taylor, May 2025

How Green Spaces Improve Our Immune System

Like many other millennials, I grew up hearing tales of hardship from the older generations - like the infamous 12-mile, uphill both ways trek to school. We were often labeled as “soft” compared to their experiences. Now, when seeing the yo...

photo of kayakers paddling on the Cuyahoga River

Sam Warnock, April 2025

A River Under Fire: The Cuyahoga River's Comeback

Few rivers tell the story of environmental neglect and redemption quite like the Cuyahoga. Once a dumping ground for industrial waste, this Ohio river was so polluted that it caught on fire repeatedly before the passage of the Clean Water A...