CSF welcomes Susan Edda Seehusen, our new Executive Director of CSF-Brasil. Since May 2013 she has been working in CSF-Brasil's new office in Rio de Janeiro. She brings to the team five years of experience with German development cooperation organizations (GFA Consulting Group, GIZ and KfW), where her work focused on natural resource management in tropical forest regions, economic instruments for environmental protection, payment for ecosystems services and the economics of ecosystems and biodiversity. She is an economist from the University of Campinas, Brazil, and holds a master's degree in Sustainable Forestry and Land Use Management from the University of Freiburg, Germany. Her master's thesis focused on the potential of payment for ecosystem services (PES) to contribute to sustainable development in the Brazilian Amazon. Since 2005 Susan has been studying and working with natural resource management of tropical forests as well as with economic tools for environmental protection, specifically with PES. From 2008 to 2013 she worked for the German Development Cooperation, beginning her work in Frankfurt for German development bank KfW, and then for the GFA Consulting Group GmbH in Hamburg. She later moved to Brasilia to work on the GiZ Project for the Protection of the Atlantic Forest II. As part of this project, in partnership with the Brazilian Environmental Ministry, she has provided technical support for 14 PES pilot projects in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest Biome. She has also conceptualized and conducted trainings in PES and the economics of ecosystems and biodiversity – TEEB. Susan is one of the editors and authors of the book Payments for Ecosystems Services in the Atlantic Forest – Lessons learned and challenges
. Susan loves nature and outdoor sports. She enjoys beach volleyball and has recently developed a passion for windsurfing, which enables her to enjoy sports, the ecosystem services, and the scenic beauty offered by Brazil's coasts all at the same time!