John-Rob Pool is the Senior Manager for UrbanShift and Nature-Positive Urban Development, supporting the World Resources Institute (WRI)’s efforts to integrate nature and biodiversity into urban development projects.
In his role, John-Rob leads WRI’s UrbanShift team and manages WRI’s contributions to UrbanShift by overseeing the day-to-day management of the project. He leads on strategy, M&E and donor reporting, and partner engagement. He also develops and delivers technical content on nature-based solutions, urban biodiversity and urban climate finance for capacity building activities such as City Academies, Geospatial Planning Labs and Peer Exchanges. John-Rob is a published and recognised expert on urban nature-based solutions. He has authored and contributed to topical research, been invited to speak at multiple global conferences and events, and been cited in numerous media articles.
John-Rob holds a Master of Science in Environmental Policy from the University of Oxford, where he was a student of St Edmund Hall. He also holds a Bachelor of Science (Honors) in Biodiversity and Conservation and a Bachelor of Science in Zoology and Environmental Science, both from Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa. John-Rob is originally from Botswana and is a dual national of South Africa and the United Kingdom. He speaks fluent Setswana and Sotho and conversational Afrikaans and French, and enjoys being outdoors and in nature.