Trained as a landscape ecologist and landscape architect, Janet Silbernagel specializes in landscape conservation strategies using spatial analysis and modeling. Her scholarship includes: scenarios of forest conservation effectiveness in a changing climate (The Nature Conservancy); citizen engagement and spatial literacy in Great Lakes coastal communities (NOAA Sea Grant), and years of work with the International Crane Foundation to understand dynamics of wetland systems for crane conservation in both China and Wisconsin.

Silbernagel started her career in land management with the US.Forest Service before receiving her PhD in Forest Science from Michigan Technological University.

She directs the Professional Masters program in Environmental Conservation within the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, helping to train conservation leaders through professional experiences (see environmental conservation page).

Previously Silbernagel served on the faculty of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture at Washington State University (1995-1999). She is the current co-editor for the Springer Landscape Series, and is involved in the International Association for Landscape Ecology, The Nature Conservancy, the Aldo Leopold Foundation, and the Society for Conservation GIS.