Bob Tansey

About Bob Tansey

Quarter century of diplomatic expertise, success in business promotion, an early career in the energy field, plus management experience. Worked/Successes in the Americas, China, Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Dedicated to using my global experience and skill sets for sustainability solutions and international collaborations for a better shared future. Now supporting the China Program and conservation efforts in the broader Asia-Pacific Region of The Nature Conservancy based at TNC\'s world office in Arlington, Virginia. Also now helping to advance regenerative foodscapes globally to benefit producers & consumers as well as biodiversity, lands, and climate mitigation and adaptation as TNC\'s policy lead for degraded lands and restoration. Bob considers himself a global citizen and works to lift people up globally and locally. He is a U.S. Government retiree, having spent 33 years with the Department of Energy, the Patent and Trademark Office, and the State Department. He also had stints in business and private consulting. As a career economic officer, Bob had assignments in Guatemala, Calgary, the Office of Pacific Island Affairs, Taiwan (language training), Beijing, Chengdu, the Nuclear Risk Reduction Center, Turkmenistan, Israel and Nigeria. Bob is the recipient of three Superior Honor Awards as well as the 2007 Frank E. Loy Award for Environmental Diplomacy. Besides being a Mandarin speaker, he is trained in Spanish, Russian and Turkmen. All told, Bob has lived 13 years in China. Now living in Washington, DC and based at the TNC world office in Arlington, Virginia, he is co-founder of the Brightwood-Petworth Community Association, bringing his diplomatic and communications skills to bear on local issues. Bob has been practicing Nichiren Buddhism for over 50 years. When he retires for good, he plans to write several books, including: “Dialogue with the World: A Family’s Story,” “Letters from My Son,” and something on personal efforts for health. He grew up in New Jersey and Ohio and has now been to 69 countries, looking to get to 100.

Experience

1. Senior Policy Advisor, Global Policy Lead, Degraded Lands and Restoratio

   The Nature Conservancy

   Jul 2020 — Present · Washington, DC, US

   Robert J. TanseyBob is Senior Policy Advisor, China, as well as Global Policy Lead for Degraded Lands and Restoration at The Nature Conservancy. He has been with TNC for eleven-plus years. In his China role, he is Advisor to the Sub-Group on Nature-based Solutions (NBS) of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development. He recently coordinated TNC’s contributions to the Yangtze River Protection Law and its implementation, putting forward how utilization of NBS across agricultural production, urban storm waters markets and water funds could greatly reduce non-point source pollution while producing benefits for climate mitigation and adaptation and enhancing agricultural resilience and productivity. Bob has presented in China on such diverse topics as Blue Economy and the Management of Public Lands and Advancing Ecological Economy. He helped conceive and implement the Mississippi-Yangtze EcoPartnership.Globally, Bob is engaged as TNC’s international policy lead for Regenerative Foodscapes, working across the upcoming Conferences of the Parties of the UN Conventions on Biodiversity, Climate, and Combating Drought & Desertification, as well as the World Conservation Congress, the UN Food Systems Summit and the UN Decade for Ecosystems Restoration. He works with TNC colleagues in world regions and on the science, corporate engagement, and communications teams to support development of the policy enabling environments, public funding and partnerships and presentation of concept and case studies at global forums to advance a shift to regenerative approaches supporting people’s needs for food and nutrition while protecting and restoring the health of natural ecosystems and advancing climate goals through reducing the need for chemical inputs and promoting soil carbon capture and advancing resilience in the face of a changing climate. He leads TNC’s engagement with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

Education

• The George Washington University

  Bachelor's degree, Public Affairs

  1969 — 1973

• The George Washington University

  MPA, Economics, Government Management

  1975 — 1981