Global Pioneers In Marine Conservation: 2006 Pew Fellows In Marine Conservation

Pew Institute for Ocean Science

The winners of the 2006 Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation were announced today by the Pew Institute for Ocean Science. Presenting five Fellowships, one of which is a collaboration by two individuals, this premier award for marine conservation recognizes innovators from around the world who are finding solutions for ocean protection and preservation.

Each Pew Fellow or collaborative team receives $150,000 to conduct a three-year conservation project. Now celebrating its 16th anniversary, the Pew Fellows Program in Marine Conservation has selected Pew Fellows in Marine Conservation from more than 20 countries who have completed projects across the globe. Their fellowships are funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts.

"The 2006 Pew Fellows truly represent the global reach of this unique program," says Ellen Pikitch, Ph.D., a Pew Fellow herself and executive director of the Pew Institute for Ocean Science at the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. "These pioneers of marine conservation are discovering new solutions for protecting and preserving our oceans worldwide."

An international committee of marine specialists selected the 2006 Pew Fellows based on their potential to protect ocean environments. The 2006 Pew Fellows span the globe from the United States to Tanzania and the Federated States of Micronesia:

• Exequiel Ezcurra, Ph.D. is director of the Biodiversity Research Center at the San Diego Natural History Museum and an expert in the ecology of deserts and coastal ecosystems of Baja California and the Sea of Cortés. He will develop a regional plan to manage the Sea of Cortés as a whole, single ecosystem in order to reduce the region's increasing environmental degradation.
• Narriman Jiddawi, Ph.D. is a marine biologist and senior research fellow at the Institute of Marine Sciences at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. She will develop a system to assess goods and services provided by marine ecosystems into the income accounts of developing countries, using Zanzibar as a model, in collaboration with Dr. Lange.
• Glenn-Marie Lange, Ph.D. is a senior research scholar at the Center on Globalization and Sustainable Development at Columbia University's Earth Institute. She has worked extensively in Africa and Asia, where a major component of her research has focused on building tools to integrate environmental concerns into economic policy analysis. She will collaborate with Dr. Jiddawi to develop economic models for assessing the value of marine ecosystems.
• William Kostka is executive director of the Conservation Society of Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), the first non-profit conservation organization in the FSM. He was a member of the first group of Micronesian leaders in conservation formed by the Nature Conservancy. He will work to establish networks of marine protected areas in the Micronesian region
• Robert Richmond, Ph.D. is a research professor at the Kewalo Marine Laboratory at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and has worked extensively in coral reef biology for more than 25 years. He will work on the development of biomarkers as a forensic tool to assess threats to coral reefs. Biomarkers classify cellular reactions in corals that are triggered by particular stressors.
• Enric Sala, Ph.D. is an associate professor and deputy director at the Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego. A native of Spain, he will examine the effectiveness of using an ecosystem-based approach to manage marine reserves in Mediterranean rocky habitats.
  

The Pew Fellows Program in Marine Conservation is part of the Pew Institute for Ocean Science, in partnership with the University of Miami. The Pew Institute for Ocean Science strives to undertake, sponsor, and promote world-class scientific activity aimed at protecting the world's oceans and the species that inhabit them.

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