ISET Climate Resilience is an interdisciplinary and agile group of resilience experts, practitioners, and researchers. We deliver technical expertise and advisory services on resilience to diverse clients and partners. We are a British Columbia registered society and bring over 25 years of Canadian and international experience.
ISET Climate Resilience regularly collaborates with ISET-International.
Our People
Experts
Kari Tyler
Kari Tyler is an expert in climate resilience and adaptation, with a Master’s degree in Adult Education and Community development. She is currently working as a consultant, developing and delivering training programs for municipal governments under contract with the Community Energy Association, and as part of the CoNext program. She has developed adaptation leadership training for federal government staff, worked on the scoping for Disaster and Climate Risk Reduction Guidance for UBCM/GCC, and is currently developing a Climate Decision Toolkit with HMA and UBCM/GCC. From 2018-2024 she worked with the Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium (PCIC) as its User Engagement and Training specialist where she coached public sector employees in applying climate projection data to understand future climate risks and make informed decisions.
She has also led adaptation implementation at Alberta Transportation and was a Senior Policy Analyst on the Climate Risk Management team at the BC Climate Action Secretariat. She has experience consulting in Alberta, BC, and internationally on climate resilience and capacity building.
Kari is an engaging and heart centred facilitator. In her years guiding conversations about climate impacts to help people understand the extent of change we must navigate, she has developed a diverse toolkit of skills to meet participants where they are and facilitate trauma-informed processes that will carry them to a creative, energized and solutions-oriented space.
Liz Fajber
Liz Fajber is Senior Strategy and Policy Adviser at ISET Climate Resilience, bringing over twenty years of leadership experience in government and non-profit sectors fostering sustainable development. Prior to joining ISET, Liz was a Deputy Director with the UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office and previously a Senior Programme Specialist with Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC). Liz specialises in cross-sectoral, systems-based approaches to governance, planning and implementation and has worked internationally with governments, communities, and civil society organisations to strengthen resilience and adapt to climate change. Liz has extensive experience in strategic planning, shaping social and environmental policy, and facilitating community-led climate resilience initiatives, emphasising understanding of risks and vulnerabilities and translating scientific concepts into practical systems-based responses. Liz has in-country experience in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Indonesia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, South Africa, Syria, and Canada, and has worked on global and regional initiatives in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Liz previously worked with ISET International as a Senior Associate on the Rockefeller Foundation funded Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network (ACCCRN) and delivering research on urban and peri-urban approaches to ecosystem services.
Board of Directors
Karen MacClune
Executive Director, ISET Climate Resilience and ISET-International
Karen is the Executive Director of ISET Climate Resilience. She provides thought leadership and mentorship while actively engaging in project work in the US and Vietnam through her role as Executive Director for ISET-International. Karen integrates learning across disciplines, scales, and cultures and uses that learning to inform policy and promote climate change adaptation and resilience action. She has developed and facilitated training for resilience building, developed and applied resilience frameworks and indicators, integrated climate and resilience thinking into infrastructure projects, and supported decision-makers and practitioners to effectively address climate change challenges. Karen has a B.S. in Mathematics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. in Geophysics from the University of Colorado.
Peter Backlund
Board Chair, ISET Climate Resilience, ISET-International
Peter Backlund is an independent climate and sustainability expert in Boulder Colorado. His interests include the interaction of environmental, societal, and economic factors in sustainability; assessment of climate change risks, impacts, and response strategies; and use of scientific research for decision-making and public policy. Before retiring from Colorado State University, he was Associate Director and then Interim Director of the university’s School of Global Environmental Sustainability. Mr. Backlund’s previous positions include senior roles at the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and National Science and Technology Council, and NASA. He has helped lead scientific assessments of the effects of climate change on land resources, water resources, biodiversity, agriculture, and global food security. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a recipient of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Abraham Lincoln Honor Award.
Mia Chung
Chief Operations Officer, ISET Climate Resilience; MERL, Policy, and Gender Specialist, ISET-International
Mia Chung is the Chief Operations Officer for ISET Climate Resilience, overseeing the day-to-day operations of the organization in support of its Theory of Change. She brings a breadth of practical experience across many sectors, including NGO, CSO, academia, and private sector, both in Canada and internationally. She uses this experience to support communities to meet their resilience goals as a knowledge broker, interpreting community-led needs and achievements for diverse audiences.
Mia specializes in MERL, policy, and gender analysis. She has implemented, evaluated, and published on a range of development, climate change adaptation, and resilience programs and topics. She has also drafted environmental legislation, developed community advocacy strategies, led a multi-country team to champion digital rights for environmental governance, and practiced energy regulation law for a leading Canadian law firm. Mia has a dual B.A. in Gender Studies and Family Studies from the University of British Columbia (Canada) and a J.D. from the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University (Canada).
Gulnara Valeyeva
Controller
Gulnara is a certified public accountant (CPA). In addition to 20 years of experience in accounting, she oversees ISET’s contract compliance and supports project management. Gulnara holds an MA in Accounting and Financial Management. She is fluent in French, Russian, and English, and has worked in multinational companies in France and Russia.