John-O Niles is the current Director of Climate and Forests for WWF in the US. In this role he works on UNFCCC and World Bank policy, provided technical support to REDD+ programs. He also led the design, accreditation, and instruction for the advanced Terrestrial Carbon Accounting Certificate course, accredited by the University of California, San Diego. Early in his career, Mr. Niles spent three years in Nigeria and Cameroon conserving endangered primates and their habitats. In graduate school, Mr. Niles published numerous peer-reviewed articles and several books on climate change and forests. In 2003, Mr. Niles was named the first Director of the Climate, Community & Biodiversity Alliance (CCBA) where he built the international alliance and led the successful writing of the first edition of the CCB Standards. In 2006, he became the first Science and Technical Advisor for the Coalition of Rainforest Nations, a block of nations that brought reducing emissions from deforestation in developing countries to the forefront of climate change diplomacy and action. Most recently, John-O was Director of the Tropical Forest Group (TFG) where he led more than a dozen affiliates in policy work, humanitarian conservation, research, and capacity building in forest and greenhouse gas accounting.