Finding a Path to Conservation Success

As Founder and Principal of JBO Conservation, Joanna Ogburn works to bring people together to solve shared conservation challenges for the benefit of communities and the environment. Through the facilitation of multi-stakeholder collaborations, strategic conservation planning workshops, and private landowner networks, JBO engages a variety of people and sectors in developing locally-driven, regionally-informed solutions. With over 16 years of experience, Joanna has built and led multi-year collaborative efforts, such as Envision the Choptank, facilitated workshops to design new conservation initiatives, and implemented large-landscape conservation projects related to wildlife and habitat conservation. Clients have included the North Atlantic Landscape Conservation Collaborative, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, The Pew Charitable Trusts, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy. She specializes in integrating community needs and environmental objectives, ensuring the sustainability of conservation initiatives. Previously, Joanna served as the Director of Programs for the Chesapeake Conservancy, managing staff and over 30 programs in five states, and developed and ran a land conservation program in Savannah, GA as a natural resources planner for the Chatham County-Savannah Metropolitan Planning Commission. Joanna has a Masters of Environmental Management (Duke University) and a Bachelors of Science (University of Richmond).

Emily Thorpe works as the Associate Partnership Coordinator for JBO Conservation, leading initiatives for multiple partnerships, including Envision the Choptank and the Middle Chesapeake Sentinel Landscape partnerships. Prior to joining JBO, Emily spent nearly 5 years with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Education Department, leading canoe-based programs throughout the Susquehanna watershed and managing an environmental education and advocacy program for high-school-aged students. In this role, she focused on increasing student engagement in environmental issues by providing opportunities to expand their knowledge of watershed issues, hone their leadership and advocacy skills, and take action to improve water quality in their local communities. She also developed new partnerships that linked environmental education to agricultural conservation and community development and worked with students to support legislation designating the eastern hellbender as the Pennsylvania state amphibian. Emily has her Master’s in Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation from Virginia Tech. She is also an alum of the Chesapeake Conservation Corps and completed her undergraduate degrees in Environmental Studies and Biology at Salisbury University, where she recently taught a month-long kayak-based course on the ecology, history, and culture of Delmarva. Living in Dorchester County, Emily enjoys spending time outdoors hiking, paddling, biking, gardening, or boating with her partner and their two dogs.