A New Vision for Security
Today’s unprecedented disruption of Earth’s systems means a cascade of emerging risks, with grave challenges to global security, peace, and prosperity
Our Mission
Assist decisionmakers, institutions, and individuals properly assess societal and security risks from ecosphere disruption and address the resultant challenges.
CoFounders
Internationally recognized thought leaders on addressing the linkages between Earth system stress and security, The Hon. Sharon Burke and Dr. Rod Schoonover formed the Ecosecurity Council to meet the scope and urgency of our ecological predicament.
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Co-Founder
Honorable Sharon Burke is the Founder and President of Ecospherics, a research and consulting firm that works with non-profit organizations, government agencies, and companies on climate change, energy, critical minerals, water, and food security. She conducts policy research, provides strategic advice, and conducts scenario planning exercises.
Throughout her career, Burke has worked to balance national security and environmental sustainability, with a focus on ideas that scale through public policy. She has been a leader at several civic organizations, including the Center for a New American Security, where she initiated a Natural Security program, Amnesty International USA, and New America. During the Biden-Harris presidential transition, Burke was on the Defense Agency Review and National Security and Foreign Policy teams.
Burke has also served in the U.S. government in Congress, the State Department, and the Pentagon, most recently as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Operational Energy. As the first official to serve in that post, Burke was responsible for launching a new office with a $30 million annual budget, including hiring staff, writing an energy strategy for the entire Department of Defense, and implementing the strategy. That involved funding R&D, promoting the rapid fielding of renewable and efficient energy technologies into combat operations, and integrating energy performance into defense business operations. In recognition of her work, the Secretary of Defense awarded her the Distinguished Civilian Service Medal.
A native of Los Angeles and educated at Williams College and Columbia University, Burke is a frequent public speaker, published writer, and strategic advisor to corporate boards, national laboratories, and U.S. government agencies.
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Co-Founder
Dr. Rod Schoonover is the Founder and CEO of the Ecological Futures Group, which focuses on the security implications of global ecological disruption and climate change, and an Adjunct Professor in Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. He served for a decade in the U.S. intelligence community, as Senior Analyst and Senior Scientist in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research at the U.S. Department of State and as the Director of Environment and Natural Resources at the National Intelligence Council (NIC). At the NIC, he oversaw the long-range strategic analysis program for environmental, ecological, and scientific issues for the U.S. intelligence community, and was a primary contributor to 2016’s Global Trends: Paradox of Progress. During his tenure in the intelligence community, Dr. Schoonover produced highly-regarded intelligence community analyses on climate change, water security, food security, polar affairs, wildlife trafficking, illegal fishing, and environmental degradation. His passion for scientific integrity and evidence-driven, apolitical analysis compelled him to resign from the Trump administration in July 2019.
Prior to joining government as an American Association for the Advancement of Science Diplomacy Fellow in 2009, Dr. Schoonover was a full Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and a Visiting Research Professor in the Department of Microbiology at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California. He earned his PhD in chemical physics at the University of Michigan where he studied complex systems and chaos theory.
Dr. Schoonover is a frequent speaker and writer and has appeared in many scientific and national security conferences as well as public media such as CNN, CBS, NPR, PBS, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and National Geographic. He has received numerous awards for teaching and public service, including the State Department’s Superior Honor Award on four occasions. He lives in Washington DC with his wife and daughter.
