Alissa Patterson

As a Program Manager at the WSN, Alissa is helping to develop and implement the new Watershed Framework program in multiple watersheds across California, which is designed to create a cross-sector, collaborative, watershed scale path toward climate resilience. Alissa works on adapting WSN’s network as it prepares for an exciting new chapter as an independent non-profit organization. As a master’s student, at UCSB’s Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, Alissa pursued the Conservation Planning Specialization and Strategic Environmental Communication and Media Focus. For her master’s project, Alissa and her team worked with The Nature Conservancy’s Dangermond Preserve on regional collaborative conservation planning. Alissa is endlessly grateful to the Chumash Indigenous community for sharing their invaluable insights and feedback for the master’s project. These insights have altered her view of conservation for the better, and she feels grateful to be working for an organization that strives for transformative collaboration. Before Bren, Alissa lived in Marin, San Francisco, and Pescadero working for the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, San Mateo County Parks, and a female-owned and operated organic farm. Alissa attended the University of Denver through which she was able to study abroad in the Netherlands and Thailand. She grew up in the East Bay Area with a strong connection to nature.