McCormick is credited with reorganizing The Nature Conservancy (TNC) into a "truly global entity to fulfill its mission.
[11][13][14] On June 8, 2005, McCormick defended TNC's land acquisition practices in front of the United States Senate Committee on Finance,[15] after a 2003 Washington Post article, Nonprofit Land Bank Amasses Millions, questioned TNC's motives.
"[18] As president and CEO of the Moore Foundation, McCormick wrote prolifically on the importance of supporting basic science, especially for environmental conservation.
[19][20][21][22][23] McCormick oversaw more than $1 billion in grants, many of which were granted to scientific research, including $34.2 million to simulate experimental research in the physics of quantum materials and $12.5 million (joint with Sloan Foundation) to the Berkeley Institute for Data Science.
[27][28] It became clear in subsequent months that McCormick left to create a 501(c)(3) non-profit, The Earth Genome, to make environmental information more accessible, using best practices from the tech industry.