International Conservation Leader, Sustainable Energy Advocate Receive Top Nicholas School Alumni Awards
Bill Ulfelder received the 2009 Ralston Distinguished Alumni Award, the highest honor given by the Nicholas School’s Alumni Association. It is presented to alumni who have distinguished themselves through contributions made in their own fields of work, in service to the Nicholas School or toward the betterment of humanity.
Ulfelder, who has worked with The Nature Conservancy since graduating from Duke in 1994 with a joint Master of Environment Management and Master of Forestry, is a leader in the conservation movement nationally and internationally. He began his career as a Population and Environmental Fellow working with The Nature Conservancy in Ecuador and Peru before officially joining the Conservancy two years later. In 1997, he was named Peru country director, where he helped negotiate a $10.5 million debt-for-nature swap.
“That deal broke new ground, because it was the first time that The Nature Conservancy, Conservation International and the World Wildlife Fund all worked together on a debt swap deal, where the U.S. government forgave debt in return for the Peruvian government making long-term commitments to its protected areas,” he explains.
In 2003, Ulfelder returned to the States to become the Conservancy’s Northern Arizona director. Then, recognizing that the next big push would be in conservation of grasslands, and wanting to be in the thick of things, he left the coniferous forests of northern Arizona to become Eastern Colorado director, where he oversaw grasslands conservation of the Western High Plains and led partnership efforts with the private and public sectors, including the US Army, the state and local ranching groups.
“In one deal, by partnering with the Colorado State Land Board, we were able to buy a 25,000-acre ranch, merge it with an existing 25,000-acre ranch owned by the state, and put that still-productive cattle ranch into conservation management of 50,000 acres so it wouldn’t lose its biodiversity values. That was a great example of how we can bridge the divide between conservation and ranching, and was reflective of my belief that long-term conservation success is predicated not only on more traditional partnerships among conservation organizations, but also innovative partnerships with unusual bedfellows in industry and other sectors.”
Ulfelder, who last year was the Conservancy’s Acting Central Caribbean director overseeing work in the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Haiti and Puerto Rico, led the Conservancy in the launch of two of the largest projects in the program’s history. One project promotes sustainable tourism in the protected areas of the Dominican Republic and the other will help ensure conservation and
environmental protection within the context of the Central American and Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement with the United States. Ulfelder had no intention of leaving Colorado, but a new opportunity to serve as New York State director was too good to pass up, and this year his family headed to the Big Apple.
“Many people don’t realize that New York State is incredibly important from an ecological perspective. Long Island has 1,500 miles of coastline, there’s the Great Lakes region, and the Adirondacks park is larger than Yosemite, Yellowstone, Glacier and Grand Canyon combined. In addition, New York is linked to the global work of The Nature Conservancy, so it allows me to draw on my international experience in support of our work in 34 countries.”
After 15 years on the Conservancy’s team, Ulfelder looks forward to seeing what new challenges await. “It has been enormously rewarding to me to have the chance to not just make a difference in the United States but also overseas, and move between those worlds. There are few careers that give you that kind of opportunity. I have a lot of doctor and lawyer friends who say they wish they had my job!” 
Ivan Urlaub, who earned joint master’s degrees in Forestry and Public Policy at Duke in 2004, received the 2009 Rising Star Alumni Award, which recognizes exceptional achievement by young alumni who have distinguished themselves through contributions in their own fields of work, in service to the Nicholas School or toward the betterment of humanity.
Urlaub, the executive director of the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association (NCSEA), is a pioneer in the state’s sustainable energy advocacy and policy making arena. Over the last three years, he has been instrumental in securing passage of 40 energy bills by the State Legislature. In 2007, he provided critical leadership in the passage of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard, the first such standard in the Southeast. Last year, the NCSEA also helped create a survey of green jobs in the United States—only the third such survey ever taken.
“I enjoy being able to see tangible change occur on the ground, as a result of our organization’s work and my leadership,” Urlaub says. “It feels good to remove regulatory and societal barriers that have prevented people from getting closer to the root causes of problems like global climate change, where they can implement solutions that put our society on a clearer path to a sustainable energy economy.”
While at the Nicholas School, Urlaub co-founded the Duke University Greening Initiative (DUGI). Through DUGI, he helped to create a campus sustainability officer position and urged the university to adopt a comprehensive green building policy. He also was involved in the creation of the new MEM program for Energy and Environment.
Urlaub continues to aid the Nicholas School through his commitment to provide internships and to hire graduates. Currently, three MEM graduates work at NCSEA. He has employed 13 MEM interns through the Stanback Program, including four this summer.
“Environmental management is a skill that the Nicholas School helped me craft out of my environmental principles and experience. Receiving the Rising Star Award has inspired me to recharge and recommit to creating a more sustainable energy future. I am touched by the recognition of my friends and colleagues and grateful for the moment of reflection this award has given me.”
Laura Ertel is a freelance writer based in Durham, N.C.
