Jess Silver

Jess Silver serves as an Ecosystem Services Analyst for the Natural Capital Project's marine team at Stanford University, where she specializes in developing and implementing tools for coastal protection and ecosystem assessment. With degrees from Wellesley College and the University of Washington, she focuses on helping communities and organizations understand and utilize nature's value in decision-making processes. Her work centers on the development and application of InVEST coastal protection tools, which assess vulnerability to coastal hazards and evaluate natural defense potential in various contexts from national development planning to climate adaptation. Silver has made significant contributions through her work with partners in British Columbia, developing a habitat suitability index to guide restoration and spatial planning efforts. As part of the Natural Capital Project team, she builds capacity worldwide for scientific approaches that integrate environmental values into policy and planning decisions, while also contributing to the project's educational initiatives through Stanford University's course on the Natural Capital Project Approach.