Founder & Director

director@cougarconservancy.org

(818) 415-0920

Korinna is a wildlife biologist from Los Angeles, California, USA. Before founding the Cougar Conservancy, she worked on a variety of wildlife projects in the field that include species such as Roosevelt elk, black bears, cougars, North American porcupines, and river otters. She received her B.Sc. in Wildlife Management & Conservation from Humboldt State University.

Korinna has worked throughout the western U.S. to enhance human-cougar relationships through education, outreach, conflict management, and science-based policy. 

In 2016, Korinna was part of the team that pushed for Assembly Bill 8, introduced by Assembly Member Richard Bloom, which would authorize, rather than require, the issuance of depredation permits. Out of this came the 2017 amendment to the depredation policy—also known as the “stepwise permit policy” or the “three-strike policy”—that added protections for cougars living in the Santa Ana and Santa Monica Mountains in Southern California. 

Korinna was honored by California Senator Anthony Portantino in 2019 for her “dedication in educating the community about living with mountain lions.” During the same year, she co-led efforts to list Southern and Central Coast mountain lions under the California Endangered Species Act. In 2020, these imperiled populations were granted temporary protected status.

Korinna founded the Cougar Conservancy in April of 2020 after the legal killing of mountain lion P-56 caused a major uproar in the conservation community. She works collaboratively with state and federal agencies, non-profit organizations, and private partners to prevent, manage, and reduce human-cougar conflicts.