Eduard Niesten runs CI’s Conservation Stewards Program, an initiative focusing on providing direct incentives to communities for conservation activities. With a doctorate in applied economics from Stanford University, Eduard specializes in environmental/natural resource economics, incentive-based conservation, (green) development economies and trust fund design.Since joining CI in 2001, his work has helped inform the creation of protected areas such as Fiji’s Sovi Basin Nature Reserve and the Phoenix Islands Protected Area in Kiribati.