Paul is a Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, where he leads their interdisciplinary Conservation Science Group which focuses on how biodiversity is affected by global changes. At the University of Tennessee, Dr. Armsworth is a Fellow in the Howard H. Baker School for Public Policy and Public Affairs and affiliated with the National Institute for Modeling Biological Systems. He is UTK’s Consortium PI for the Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center. Dr. Armsworth was recently made a fellow of the Ecological Society of America, recognized with a Faculty Achievement Award by the SEC, and was part of a collaborative team recognized with a national Climate Adaptation Leadership Award for their work supporting state agencies across the Southeast.

Louise Vaughn is the acting Coordinator for the Southeast Conservation Adaptation Strategy (SECAS), where she helps connect people and organizations to the partnership. She has extensive experience helping people use the Southeast Conservation Blueprint, a living spatial plan that identifies priority areas for a connected network of lands and waters across the Southeast and Caribbean. With a background in writing, conservation planning, and UI/UX Louise helps partners overcome barriers to conservation by making complex and technical information accessible and actionable. Recently, she has supported several states in using regional datasets, like the Blueprint, to update their State Wildlife Action Plans, and has collaborated with partners to highlight the ecological and cultural importance of rivercane, a native bamboo plant that has played a major role in sustaining cultural practices and ecological systems for many Indigenous communities in the Southeast.