Allen Townsend

Allen is an interdisciplinary water expert with over 10 years of progressive experience working at the intersection of agriculture, energy, and health systems. He’s advised a sitting US Ambassador on foreign water-energy policy, worked within a Fortune 100 company on corporate sustainability, and has served in numerous consulting roles globally and across sectors. Allen leads WWF’s freshwater work on Science Based Targets for nature, and facilitates the harmonization of metrics across WWF’s Freshwater & Food team. Allen has a Master of Public Affairs in Water Governance and Policy from Indiana University Bloomington, and a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Clemson University. He is finishing a PhD in Civil Engineering at the University of Virginia. His research interests include environmental stewardship, water governance, and merging understanding of human behavior and design.