About
Polly Endreny Holmberg is a conservation biologist with expertise in sustainable resource management and international education. As Associate Director of the Fulbright exchange Humphrey Fellowship Program at Cornell, Polly unites and supports global cohorts of mid-career experts in the fields of natural resource management, agriculture, and rural development. She works with Fellows as they adapt to Cornell and the Ithaca community and helps them shape rewarding programs to meet their professional development goals. Included in her role as training program coordinator for the Department of Global Development, Polly manages programs such as the USDA Borlaug Fellowship Program and the World Food Prize New York Youth Institute. Prior to her current position, Polly helped build and lead the Cornell Alliance for Science’s international training program on science communications and evidence-based advocacy, training nearly 800 professionals from 48 countries on strategic organizing to confront global hunger.
Holding a B.Sc. in biology (University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill) and a M.Sc. in marine resource management (Oregon State University), Polly brings several years of experience working in human-environment issues with organizations such as The Nature Conservancy, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Cheetah Conservation Fund, and the Peace Corps (served in Madagascar with her husband, 2010-12). A foundational experience studying community-driven wildlife management in Namibia yielded her an enduring career guiding question: How can we harmonize the development of prosperous communities with the conditions needed for thriving nature? She’s energized by imaginative collaborations that prioritize environmental improvement, community empowerment, and cross-cultural engagement to address global challenges.
Polly considers herself a lifelong learner with a growing list of questions. She’s hanging onto optimism – sometimes by a thread – in pursuit of a more just and sustainable world. Having grown up in the Finger Lakes of New York and then traveling during her studies and early career, Polly loves being back on Cayuga Lake with her husband, son, and precocious cats.
