Phoebe Elizabeth Barnard (born June 10, 1961) is an American global change scientist and professor of conservation biology and environmental futures at the University of Washington. Barnard has written more than 180 publications on the vulnerability of biodiversity and ecosystems to climate and land use change. She is one of five core co-authors of the 2020 paper World Scientists’ Warning of a Climate Emergency, lead author of the action-focused 2021 World Scientists' Warnings into Action: Local to Global, and second of 11 co-authors of the 2023 World Scientists' Warning: the Behavioural Crisis Driving Ecological Overshoot, a provocative collaboration of scientists, educators and global marketing strategists.
Impatient with warnings, Barnard has focused on bold global actions. In 2021, she co-founded and led the Stable Planet Alliance, a global coalition of organizations working to reduce ecological overshoot. In 2022, she and John D. Liu started the Global Restoration Collaborative, a global coalition of organizations working to restore ecosystems, climate and biodiversity while upskilling youth and women leaders.
Barnard and John Bowey are co-producing a global documentary series exploring climate and ecosystem restoration solutions, called Back to Our Future: Climate Restoration and Survival.
Education
In 1983, Barnard graduated in biology from Acadia University. She earned MSc and PhD degrees in environmental sciences from University of the Witwatersrand (1990) and Uppsala University (1994).
Career
Barnard founded and led the Government of Namibia’s first national biodiversity program. She led a collaborative study of biological diversity of Namibia. She also led the development and publication of Namibia's first national biodiversity strategy and action plan for the years 2001–2010.
Barnard was on the board and executive committee shaping the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, which evaluated the status and trends of Earth’s ecosystems and their capacity to support human health, well-being and economic activities.
From 2005 to 2016, she worked as a principal and then lead scientist at the South African National Biodiversity Institute on climate change bioadaptation and biodiversity futures.
During this time, she co-led an international research team on species’ vulnerability to past, present and future climates. She also coordinated the development of a biodiversity early warning system and policy applications for South Africa.
In 2016, Barnard was a participant in a leadership expedition to Antarctica with the global STEM women’s leadership program Homeward Bound. She is a member of its Busara Circle of 11 distinguished elder women mentors for the program.
Moving back to the United States in 2017, Barnard ran the Pacific Biodiversity Institute and served as chief science and policy officer for the Conservation Biology Institute.
Research
Barnard has written and edited over 180 peer-reviewed scientific and policy publications, including books, reports, chapters and papers on biodiversity, global change, early warning systems, climate resilience, and ornithology.
She is one of five core co-authors of the 2020 paper World Scientists’ Warning of a Climate Emergency, co-signed by more than 14,850 scientists from 158 countries. She's also lead author of the 2021 paper World Scientists’ Warnings into Action: Local to Global in Science Progress (for COP26), co-signed so far by 3000+ scientists from 110+ countries.
Filmmaking
Barnard and John Bowey have co-produced short- and long-format documentaries since 2018, including My Otherland and Back to Our Future: Climate Restoration and Survival.
Awards and recognition
Barnard received a Society for Conservation Biology Distinguished Service Award in 2002. She was also recognized by the University of Washington in 2017 with an affiliate full professorship in conservation biology and environmental futures. In 2019 she received Esther Forbes Award for Distinguished Professional Achievement from Bancroft School.