Staff Bio

Isaac Merson is a Program Associate at the Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation’s (Udall Foundation) John S. McCain III National Center for Environmental Conflict Resolution (National Center). He joined the Udall Foundation in Summer 2024 to support the Climate Service Area as well as National Center programming and communications priorities.

Isaac has broad experience in environmental conservation, communications, environmental justice, and strategic planning. He has worked across the United States and East Africa in support of a collaborative vision of conservation and coexistence, with particular experience working with forest management and bird conservation. Isaac particularly enjoys helping people of all ages connect to the land, having led hiking trips, bird watching expeditions, urban street tree planting teams, and volunteer workdays at community parks. Most recently, he supported climate change integration, public engagement, and Tribal inclusion in land management planning for the National Forest System. As a consultant, he led several conservation initiatives including developing forest management plans and integrating affordable housing in landscape conservation planning. He also brings a background in journalism and communications.

Isaac earned a Master of Environmental Management from the Yale School of the Environment and a Bachelor of Arts in biology from Bowdoin College on the rocky coast of Maine.