Financial systems, emerging technologies and global policy are redefining how conservation work gets done, and Arizona State University’s Conservation Futures Academy is expanding its portfolio of professional programs in response.
Since its initial launch, the academy has enrolled more than 500 learners from over 400 organizations worldwide, signaling strong demand for conservation-focused professional learning. With five new programs launching this week and more than 25 programs expected by June, the academy is rapidly expanding to meet the needs of a growing global workforce.
The expansion also marks a shift from a set of individual program offerings to a fully integrated offering, bringing together courses, credentials and a global learning community into a single, connected experience.
The new programs help conservation professionals build a broader set of integrated capabilities across finance, policy and emerging technologies — areas that increasingly intersect in practice.
“We are building something that is very unique,” said Jack Kittinger, director of the Rob Walton School of Conservation Futures. “Our aim is to create a school built by practitioners, a place of learning, innovation and professional advancement to serve the entire conservation sector — oriented toward the field of practice and preparing people to be in it. I really do think we will be a field catalyst for the sector.”
Conservation Futures Academy is the professional learning arm of the Rob Walton School of Conservation Futures, drawing on research from the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory and delivered through ASU’s Learning Enterprise, which serves learners in more than 157 countries worldwide. Its programs are developed in partnership with organizations including Conservation International, connecting practitioners to field-tested expertise, and have engaged learners from more than 70 organizations across four continents.
Building skills for a changing field
A report from the International Labour Organization, the International Union for Conservation of Nature and the U.N. Environment Programme projects up to 32 million nature-based jobs globally by 2030, with cross-sector skills as the primary barrier to filling them. Many roles now require fluency across finance, governance and emerging technologies that have traditionally operated separately.
Kittinger describes the curriculum as built around two branches: technical knowledge domains including finance, Indigenous knowledge, law, policy and conservation markets, and practitioner skill sets including leadership, project management and field experience.
“You’ve got to have all four legs of that stool,” he says. “Even if you’re a science person, you have to understand something about Indigenous knowledge. You have to understand something about conservation finance.”
Programs are delivered through flexible formats, including cohort-based experiences, self-paced courses and live online sessions, designed to fit into demanding schedules while connecting professionals across sectors and geographies through a global learning community.
Current offerings include Indigenous Conservation Collaborations; Conservation and Nature Finance; Conservation Technology Innovations: AI, Drones and GIS; Embedding Conservation in Business Strategy; and Future of Conservation Leadership.
Together, these programs reflect the academy’s growing scope, spanning technical skills, leadership development and emerging areas shaping the future of conservation work.
Some subjects soon to be added to that portfolio are: applied biomimicry, applied GIS and habitat mapping, disaster mapping, forestry and carbon fundamentals, and nature positive tourism.
Who is the Conservation Futures Academy built for?
For many conservation professionals, the challenge isn’t knowing what to do. It’s finding the time and support to do it differently. The Conservation Futures Academy is built for that reality, helping people already working across sectors build new capabilities without stepping away from their work.
Amber Sampson, a chef at Slow Food Phoenix, came to the academy looking for a frame to connect community-rooted food work to conservation practice.
“Conservation is rooted in community and culture,” she says. “When you get together as a group, it’s so much easier to see that there are solutions.”
For Jake Simon, an arborist with 20 years in urban forestry, the problem had a name.
“There can be a pretty big gulf between the urban forest and corporate ESG and their conservation goals,” he says.
Chris Casillas, founder of Regenerating Sonora, brought years of conservation work with Indigenous communities.
“I’ve done conservation work with Indigenous groups in the past, but never had formal frameworks or teaching,” he says.
“We focus on what is working in the conservation sector and how to scale those solutions,” said Lukas Wenrick, senior director of learning innovations at ASU Learning Enterprise. “That’s where hope comes from. We’re seeing what’s already working and building on it.”
At ASU, that means treating learning not as something separate from the work, but as part of how the work gets done. Conservation Futures Academy is made possible by a $115 million gift from the Rob Walton Foundation in 2025, the largest philanthropic gift in ASU history. Planned programs will reach learners from high school through executive leadership, creating earlier entry points and stronger progression into conservation careers.
At ASU, that means treating learning not as something separate from the work, but as part of how the work gets done.
“The work is becoming more complex, but the people doing it don’t have time to step away and retrain,” said Miki Kittilson, dean of the Rob Walton College of Global Futures. “We have to build learning that meets them where they are and helps them move solutions forward.”
