John ‘Jack’ Kittinger named director of ASU’s Rob Walton School of Conservation Futures
Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory hires expert leader with global conservation experience to accelerate solutions-oriented research and learning
John "Jack" Kittinger speaks at the Rob Walton College of Global Futures on Nov. 25, 2025, about his work with Conservation International in Hawaiʻi. Photo by by Donovan Johnson
Arizona State University’s Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory has named John “Jack” Kittinger as director of the Rob Walton School of Conservation Futures, the newest school housed in the Rob Walton College of Global Futures.
“The challenges facing our world today demand fundamentally new systems, ones designed to connect knowledge with action at speed and scale. At the Global Futures Laboratory we are built to operate across disciplines, sectors and communities to help shape a thriving future for all,” said Peter Schlosser, vice president and vice provost of Global Futures.
“The Rob Walton School of Conservation Futures embodies this approach. Under Jack’s leadership, the school will help redefine conservation as a dynamic-driven field, grounded in community partnership and within the dynamics of Earth’s systems. If we want a future in which life can thrive, we must actively build it, starting now.”
Established through a landmark $115 million gift from the Rob Walton Foundation, the largest in ASU’s history, the School of Conservation Futures is designed to meet conservation challenges with the urgency, scale and impact the future demands.
As the first-of-its-kind transdisciplinary school, Kittinger will lead the school’s efforts to transform the field of conservation and workforce development. By partnering with communities and aspiring changemakers in Arizona and across the globe, the school codevelops new solutions and models of learning for the protection and resilience of biodiversity in a rapidly changing world.
The School of Conservation Futures is one of five in the Rob Walton College of Global Futures focused on planetary health.
“Jack Kittinger brings the experience and leadership to elevate the school’s national and international profile and consequential impact,” said Miki Kittilson, dean of the Rob Walton College of Global Futures.
“His track record in building partnerships with communities, organizations and corporations will catalyze the programs and outcomes that are urgently needed.”
Kittinger’s career reflects a commitment to solutions-driven conservation that mirrors the diversity of the field itself, integrating science, policy and community engagement to deliver real-world impact through collaboration and partnership.
Conservation, he says, is a “team-based endeavor” — a sentiment that he plans to bring to the new school.
“To that end, as we form a highly collaborative and engaged set of staff, faculty and practitioners to join the school, we will be best served through a partnership-based approach that brings multiple voices, views and expertise into the school to best serve the global conservation sector,” Kittinger said.
Kittinger most recently served as senior vice president of the Center for Regenerative Economies at Conservation International (CI), where he led efforts in transforming regenerative practices in the areas of farming, fishing and fashion. During his tenure, his team helped secure a $107 million grant from the Green Climate Fund to support climate resiliency in the Pacific Islands, as well as the passage of Hawaiʻi’s Green Fee legislation, a landmark policy that generates more than $100 million to support conservation efforts and build a resilient conservation workforce.
“CI’s motto is ‘feet in the mud, head in the sky’ — an apt metaphor for the conservation sector, where practitioners work alongside communities and partners on the frontlines: in the forest, fields and coasts of the world, but also at the highest levels of the dialogue — at international policy forums, alongside world leaders from governments and the biggest corporates on the planet,” said Kittinger
The School of Conservation Futures is already translating vision into action. Last fall, the school launched educational offerings through its Conservation Futures Academy, which helps conservation professionals gain additional skills to make real-world impact. The academy’s first executive education cohort graduated in December, in partnership with ASU’s Learning Enterprise.
Partnerships with conservation organizations around the world are central to the School of Conservation Futures.
Last fall, school staff traveled with Conservation International to Kenya and South Africa to explore opportunities for ASU students to learn alongside local conservation leaders and community members. The trip helped build partnerships with community-based organizations working in wildlife protection, ecosystem restoration, climate solutions and sustainable livelihoods.
Kittinger’s deep experience in field-based conservation and applied research at Conservation International mirrors the school’s place-based learning model, creating a direct bridge between education, practice and workforce development.
“Having worked in the conservation sector for two decades, I know firsthand that professional development and skill-building represent both the greatest challenge and the biggest opportunity,” said Kittinger.
“Conservation solutions rely on a workforce that can respond at speed and scale to the twin crises of biodiversity loss and climate change. I am tremendously excited about the role of the School of Conservation Futures in taking this on, and helping to address what I view is the defining challenge of our time.”
Together, the partnership reflects ASU’s commitment to preparing students and researchers to lead conservation innovation in an increasingly complex world.
That commitment is already taking shape in hands-on learning opportunities such as the School of Conservation Futures’ inaugural field course in coastal California. Led by ASU professors Melissa Nelson and Sharon Hall, the program allows students to explore multiple biodiversity hotspots in California while meeting with leaders from four Indigenous nongovernmental organizations.
In the months ahead, the School of Conservation Futures will expand its undergraduate and graduate curriculum, strengthening pathways for students to engage in applied, solutions-driven conservation work.
“The ASU Charter is both a foundation for the university, as well as a guide for the school. We have both a responsibility to care for the community we serve in the conservation sector, as well as a strong value set around inclusivity and innovation that we need to bring to the school’s design and development,” Kittinger said.