Catherine Cunningham PhD, Founder & CEO

My name is Catherine Cunningham and I am the visionary behind Natural Intelligence. This website represents a portfolio of my work also in creative collaboration with other very talented artists. This is a resource dedicated to helping humanity connect back to our nature roots and cultural heritage- our Natura Vera.

I’m a native Californian of Celtic and Croatian descent with background in environmental leadership, media, communications, and education. I have always been fascinated by our role in the natural world and our responsibility to live in reciprocity with all our relations. I’ve developed a career of over 20 years as an environmental leader consulting clients, designing development strategies, raising funds, constructing campaigns, guiding communities, curating VIP salons, creating media, and educating different stakeholder groups on the importance of protecting critical habitat, wildlife, and wildlands. A central part of my mission-driven work has been to produce digital media, films, and interactive experiences for international clients in business and government. In building Eikosphere’s consultancy practice, I’ve delivered upwards of 150 positive economic, social, and environmental narratives in various formats and languages in over 75 countries with fellow, top creatives through my aligned production company, Natural Intelligence Media. Narratives include speeches, films, news media, podcasts, articles, and immersive experiences that spark care and respect for endemic people and their culture, promote the conservation of critical wildlife habitat, and lead to the protection of sacred lands. I am an active member of the IUCN’s Commission on Education and Communication (CEC)-the UN body responsible for nature conservation and biodiversity.

As an independent media host/producer, I’ve interviewed 100’s of global leaders on our collective future, nature stewardship, and indigenous wisdom. Partnering with Eurovision’s News and Events division, I hosted a program at the World Economic Forum called Natural Intelligence Worldwide. My media role in collaboration with Eurovision led to the creation of Nature’s Newsroom – a live broadcast studio that we produced at major global forums. Conservation partners included the GCA, Nature4Climate, IUCN, WWF, CI, TNC, ReWild, EDN.

 Early in my career, I taught master’s courses in corporate sustainability & communications at Arizona State University; global sustainability at Chapman University; biology, ecology, botany, and environmental science at Denver State College and Front Range College. I’ve earned a PhD in Ecology at ETHZ in Switzerland, studying climate impacts on mountain ecosystems. I also hold a BA in Cultural Anthropology and Intl. Peace Studies from Notre Dame, and a MS from Utah State in Ecology. I speak English and Italian. I love adventure, travel, culture, music, yoga, telemark skiing, mountaineering.

 Dharma: Awakening Natural Intelligence in the World; Guiding Leaders To Re-discover Their True Human+Nature