Britta Garfield is a Senior Advisor for Global Strategy in the Smithsonian’s Office of International Relations, currently based in Brussels. She works with Smithsonian scientists, museum and cultural experts to advance science-based solutions, build strategic partnerships and increase knowledge addressing major environmental and societal challenges, with a focus on international frameworks such as the UN Convention on Biological Diversity and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. She also contributes to the global strategy of the Conservation Commons which aims to sustain Earth’s biodiverse ecosystems, bridging the arts and the sciences and scaling up the wealth of information produced and managed by the Smithsonian’s 9 research centers, 19 museums, and the National Zoo, in collaboration with many partners worldwide. Since 2018, Britta has been serving as Co-Chair of the Consortium of Scientific Partners on Biodiversity (CSP), a network of leading technical and scientific institutions from around the world which supports Parties to the CBD in building scientific, technical and policy skills in the area of biodiversity.

Prior to joining the Smithsonian, she held roles with the German Development Agency (GIZ) as well as the environmental NGOs Rare and Forest Stewardship Council working on the intersection of nature conservation and development. She has lived and worked in Germany, the United States, France, Korea, China, and most recently Belgium, and holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Political Science, Chinese and French from University of Bonn, Beijing Foreign Studies University and Institut d’études politiques de Grenoble.