Kristen McDonald

China Program Director

Kristen McDonald is leading Pacific Environment’s efforts to address pollution and build strong and effective grassroots environmental organizations in China. Under Kristen’s leadership, Pacific Environment added a rule of law component and launched efforts to combat air pollution from coal in China. She also helped develop one of the first issue-centric environmental coalitions in China, the Water Environment Learning Network.

Kristen is the founder and former director of China Rivers Project, which works to expand river eco-tourism and river conservation in China. She has worked as a river conservation advocate internationally and in the United States. Kristen received a PhD from the University of California at Berkeley in Environmental Science, Policy and Management and earned her bachelor’s degree in Literature and Environmental Studies at Yale University.