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 conservation mitigation bank in missouri

Michael Scisco, March 2025

Mitigation Credits 101: Understanding the Basics of Environmental Offsets

What Are Mitigation Credits? Mitigation credits are units of compensatory environmental value that are used to offset the impact of land development or other activities that cause damage to wetlands, streams, endangered species habitats, or...

photo of our conservation easement in north carolina

Christine Pickens, March 2025

A Season of Change: Our 2024 Annual Report

We are proud to present our 2024 Annual Report which highlights our work to restore and conserve land and water across the country. This year, we expanded our work to new states with exciting projects that protect vulnerable species, preser...

photo of zeb creek conservation easement for mitigation banking in north carolina

Michael Scisco, March 2025

Zeb Creek | Conservation Easement

Total Acres 23.6 Project Year 2024 Located in Rockingham County NC The Zeb Creek Conservation Easement is a restoration project in the Cape Fear River Basin developed with KCI. This project is focused on stream and wetland restoration, impr...

photo of tobacco road conservation easement for mitigation banking in north carolina

Michael Scisco, March 2025

Tobacco Road | Conservation Easement

Total Acres 44.6 Project Year 2023 Located in Alamance County NC The Tobacco Road Conservation Easement is a mitigation project in North Carolina developed by Resource Environmental Solutions (RES). This project is designed to restore and p...