Karim Ledesma is Program Coordinator of the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute’s Biodiversity Monitoring and Assessment Program (BMAP). She coordinates field surveys of the terrestrial and marine research protocols implemented along the PERU LNG gas pipeline in the Andes Mountains and desert ecosystems as well as the marine terminal of a liquified natural gas plant in Peru. Ms. Ledesma is the lead field logistics coordinator and also ensures quality control in implementation of scientific methods. She provides additional technical support to the managing directors of the program and acts as a liaison to principal investigators. Ms. Ledesma coauthored the first published analysis of the application of the mitigation hierarchy to liquified natural gas operations. She is particularly interested in understanding the ecology of the deserts and the reforestation of Andean habitats with native species to support restoration activities. She can be reached at ledesmak@si.edu.