What is the Global Youth Biodiversity Network (GYBN)?
What is the Global Youth Biodiversity Network (GYBN)?
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The Global Youth Biodiversity Network (GYBN) is an international network of youth organizations and individuals from every global region who have united together with a common goal: preventing the loss of biodiversity and preserving Earth's natural resources.
GYBN is the official group for youth in the negotiations under the United Nation's Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and is recognized and supported by the CBD Secretariat. Presently, GYBN has 280 member organizations from 140 different countries.
What does GYBN USA do?
What does GYBN USA do?
GYBN USA works to mobilize youth to protect national biodiversity while expanding knowledge of the UN CBD global biodiversity targets. We do this by increasing knowledge of the CBD among youth activists in the USA, collaborating among youth groups around the country to magnify the impact of our collective voice, and attending CBD Conferences of the Parties alongside USA-based environmental organizations, state governments, and our federal government. GYBN USA is also working with states and the federal government to integrate ecological science into policy and independently commit to the UN CBD.
Meet Our Team
Meet Our Team
Julia Weiss (she/her) (Ecology PhD Student, University of Cambridge) Julia is an environmental researcher and advocate from Chicago, focusing on the impact of human activities on bird populations. Her research involves assessing the impacts of logging on avian populations through time in Malaysian Borneo, and a global analysis of how subcanopy microclimates have changed within species ranges. Julia advocates for translating scientific findings into conservation policies and action. She has worked to develop global youth positions on climate and biodiversity through the UN Major Group for Children and Youth, and started the US Chapter of the Global Youth Biodiversity Network in 2023.
Anna Belinski (she/her) (Attorney at Alpine Legal Services) Anna is currently a litigation attorney in western Colorado with a background in international environmental law. Anna’s experience began as a legal intern in northwest Montana working on legal remedies for states and tribes in response to water pollution coming from Canadian coal mines. Anna worked on the research team for Global Choices, drafting policy for a moratorium on exploitative activity in the Central Arctic Ocean with whom she presented at UNFCCC COP28. Anna is also passionate about rights of nature and has published a case note in the Public Land and Resources Law Review Journal on the intersections between Native American Tribal law and rights of nature.
Seth Thomas (he/him) (Climate and Energy Fellow at the National Wildlife Federation) Seth was a founding member of GYBN USA and is a Climate and Energy Research Fellow at the National Wildlife Federation. He began his work on international youth environmental advocacy during his Master’s Degree in Biodiversity, Conservation and Management at the University of Oxford. He also worked as a staff researcher at the University of Oxford and was a member of the University’s first delegation to attend a UN CBD COP. Seth chaired the IUCN North America Youth Action Circle and has attended COP15 as a Youth Engagement Fellow and COP16 as the US Youth Focal Point.
Rachel Cohen (she/her) (Environmental Planner at San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission) Rachel decided to pursue a career in environmental policy after the 2016 elections highlighted policy’s impact on our planet and its inhabitants, especially those most vulnerable. She lives in San Francisco and works to improve state policies regarding the beneficial reuse of sediment to help the region’s wetlands adapt to rising sea levels.
Alyssa Estes (she/her) (Post-consumer recycled content specialist) Alyssa is a Plastics Specialist with the Washington State Department of Ecology in the Solid Waste Program. Currently implementing a recycled content law, she helps plastics producers comply with Washington State recycled content minimums required in products like beverage containers, trash bags, and personal care products. For the last six years, Alyssa has been a dedicated professional in the solid waste field, helping both large companies as well as individuals understand how their daily waste habits can affect climate change.
Katia Pilar Carranza (she/her) MSc (Indigenous Communities Liaison, Pasa Sustainable Agriculture) Katia is a sustainability and conservation community organizer and educator, researcher, and strategic planner committed to improving the reciprocal interconnections between people and nature. For over ten years, she has collaborated across sectors from the local to the international level to advance community-driven solutions for sustainability, conservation, agro-ecology, climate action, and resilience.
Brianna Weck (she/her) (Program Officer at World Wildlife Fund) works at the intersection of multilateral environmental funding, international conservation, and policy, helping to mobilize resources for global biodiversity efforts and to connect policy with meaningful action. She currently works at WWF facilitating global environmental projects funded through the Global Environment Facility (GEF). With experience in grants management, cross-stakeholder engagement, and advocacy, Brianna is passionate about securing a future for us to drive for ambitious conservation goals. She is additionally active in social media advocacy, using digital platforms to promote environmental awareness and action.
Shiho Ito (she/her) (Master’s Student, University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability) is a first-year master’s student at the University of Michigan’s School for Environment and Sustainability, focusing on Behavior, Education, and Communication. Originally from Japan, she has been actively involved in biodiversity and conservation initiatives both globally and locally, including collaborating with a local NGO in Akita to foster intergenerational dialogue on conservation, interning at IUCN-Japan, and representing the Global Youth Midori Platform with the United Nations University delegation at COP16. She is passionate about cross-cultural communication, community engagement, and environmental education.
Justin Gulino (he/him) Ecology PhD Student, Conservation Associate at National Caucus of Environmental Legislators) Justin Gulino is the Conservation Associate for the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators (NCEL) where he assists state legislators with their conservation priorities. At NCEL, Justin focuses on international biodiversity, pollinators, invasive species, and endangered species matters. Justin is also pursuing a PhD in Ecology & Biodiversity where he is studying how Wellington, New Zealand reversed avian biodiversity loss and how this may be replicated elsewhere.
Philip Lu (he/him) (Chief Operating Officer at Solom) co-founded Solom to make biodiversity metrics and ecological monitoring solutions practical and impactful. He works alongside researchers, engineers, businesses, and policymakers to link conservation with economic incentives and advance biodiversity accounting. During his time at the US Fish and Wildlife Service, regulating wildlife trade under the Endangered Species Act and CITES, he gained direct insights into how policy and data, from numbers to stories, shape on-the-ground conservation outcomes. In 2025, he became a Kinship Conservation Fellow and led Solom into the CoalitionWILD EXCELerator, a global conservation-focused accelerator.
Maddy Jennings (she/her) (Biologist for SWCA Environmental Consultants; Los Angeles County Youth Climate Commission; California Global Biodiversity Working Group) serves as a commissioner on the Los Angeles County Youth Climate Commission, and works full time as a biologist for SWCA Environmental Consultants. In her spare time, she helps advise the California Global Biodiversity Working Group on ecological matters and youth engagement. She holds a degree in ecology and evolutionary biology from UCLA and, through her different work streams, aims to bring biodiversity to the forefront of ambitious policy work on a local, state, and national level.
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