Rebecca L. Kihslinger

Science and Policy Analyst
202-939-3812
202-939-3868
kihslinger@eli.org

Expertise

• Biodiversity: conservation planning—approaches for integrating biodiversity protection principles into land use planning, policies, and regulations
• Water: wetlands—compensatory mitigation; federal, state, and local policy

Profile

Rebecca Kihslinger has worked at ELI as a Science and Policy Analyst since 2006. Rebecca’s research centers on local, state, and federal wetlands law and policy, with a focus on compensatory mitigation policy. She has worked with local and regional land trust to improve their capacity to take on the long-term stewardship of wetland mitigation sites. She has also written on the administrative and ecological performance of U.S. compensatory mitigation and is currently working with wetland scientists to develop a study design for a national evaluation of the ecological performance of wetland mitigation banks. Rebecca’s work also addresses the intersection of conservation science and land use planning. She was the lead editor of ELI’s 2007 publication, Lasting Landscapes: Reflections on the Role of Conservation Science in Land Use Planning and was the primary author of Nature-Friendly Land Use Practices at Multiple Scales. She is currently working with planners and conservation biologists throughout the country to help integrate biodiversity protection principles into local planning efforts. Her work also includes a project to identify opportunities for national and state programs and policies that influence the development or protection of natural hazard areas to incorporate wildlife conservation and address the impacts of climate change.

Education

• Ph.D. in Animal Behavior, University of California, Davis, CA, 2006
• M.S. in Animal Behavior, University of California, Davis, CA, 2002
• B.S. in Marine Science, University of South Carolina Honors College, Columbia, SC, 1998

Selected Publications

Rebecca L. Kihslinger & James M. McElfish, Jr., Nature-Friendly Land Use Practices at Multiple Scales. (Envtl. L. Inst. 2009).

Rebecca L. Kihslinger, Success of Wetland Mitigation Projects, Nat’l Wetlands Newsl., 30 (2): 14-16 (2008).

Michael Bean, Rebecca L. Kihslinger, & Jessica Wilkinson, Design of U.S. Habitat Banking Systems to Support the Conservation of Wildlife Habitat and At-Risk Species (Envtl. L. Inst. 2008).

James M. McElfish, Jr., Rebecca L. Kihslinger, & Sandra Nichols, Setting Buffer Sizes for Wetlands, Nat’l Wetlands Newsl., 30 (2): 6-10. (2008).

James M. McElfish, Jr., Rebecca L. Kihslinger, & Sandra Nichols, Planner’s Guide to Wetland Buffers for Local Governments, (Envtl. L. Inst. 2008).

Rebecca L. Kihslinger, Jessica Wilkinson, & James M. McElfish, Jr., Biodiversity Corridors in Sustainable Urbanism: Urban Design With Nature, (John Wiley and Sons, Inc. 2007).

Rebecca L. Kihslinger, Jessica Wilkinson, Palmer Hough & Sherry Teresa, Taking on the Long-Term Stewardship of Wetlands Mitigation Sites, Land Trust Alliance Exchange (Spring 2007).

Rebecca L. Kihslinger & Jessica Wilkinson eds., Lasting Landscapes: Reflections on the Role of Conservation Science in Land Use Planning (Envtl. L. Inst. 2007).