News Release

Pew announces 2012 recipients of distinguished Marine Conservation Fellowship

Experts work to conserve global ocean ecosystems

Grant and Award Announcement

Pew Charitable Trusts, Ocean Science

WASHINGTON (Feb. 28, 2012) – The Pew Environment Group announced today six recipients of the 2012 Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation. They are from Brazil, Cuba, France, Peru, and the United States.

The 2012 Pew Fellowships in Marine Conservation will support projects to promote green infrastructure for climate adaptation in coastal communities, expand marine areas in Brazil that are under protection, shift the Peruvian anchoveta industry toward directly feeding humans, identify climate-driven changes in fisheries, analyze French fisheries subsidies, and conserve goliath grouper populations in Cuba, the Caribbean, and the Gulf of Mexico.

"The individuals added to this year's Pew Fellows Program in Marine Conservation are talented experts who will make important contributions to protecting the ocean environment worldwide," said Joshua S. Reichert, managing director of the Pew Environment Group. "We are proud to honor them as they work to foster greater conservation of the world's living marine resources."

The 2012 Pew Marine Fellows:

  • Michael Beck, Ph.D., is lead scientist of the Global Marine Team at The Nature Conservancy. Dr. Beck will encourage adaptation strategies that use the natural properties of coastal systems, such as coral reefs and wetlands, to reduce climate related impacts on developing coastal communities.

  • Guilherme Dutra is the marine program director at Conservation International in Brazil. Mr. Dutra's project will support the expansion of the Abrolhos Marine Protected Area Network in Brazil and use that process as a model for advancing marine protection in the country.

  • Patricia Majluf, Ph.D. At the time of her selection, Dr. Majluf served as the director of the Center for Environmental Sustainability at the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Peru. On Feb. 25, she was appointed Peru's vice minister of Fisheries. As a result, the start of her fellowship will be deferred. Dr. Majluf's fellowship project will aim to reduce the negative impacts of the anchoveta reduction fisheries of Peru by creating new markets for the industry to supply fish for direct human consumption.

  • Stephan Munch, Ph.D., is a research faculty member at UC Santa Cruz and a fisheries ecologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Dr. Munch's project will create tools to identify climate-driven changes in fisheries demographics.

  • Claire Nouvian is president and founder of Bloom Association in France. Ms. Nouvian will research and analyze how existing subsidies to the French fishing sector impact long-term economic and ecological viability.

  • Fabián Pina Amargós, Ph.D., is a researcher at the Centro de Investigaciónes de Ecosistemas Costeros in Cuba. Dr. Pina Amargós' project will provide critical scientific information about goliath grouper in Cuba and develop a comprehensive plan of action for grouper conservation.

"The 2012 Pew Marine Fellows bring extraordinary talent to address the critical and complex issues facing our oceans," said Polita Glynn, director of the Pew Fellows Program in Marine Conservation. "We are proud to welcome this year's Pew Marine Fellows and add their diverse experience to our global marine conservation program."

The Pew Fellows Program in Marine Conservation has awarded 125 fellowships to individuals from 32 countries. Each Pew Marine Fellow receives US$150,000 to conduct a three-year scientific research or conservation project designed to address critical challenges to the oceans. Through a rigorous nomination and review process, a committee of marine specialists from around the world selects Pew Marine Fellows based on the strengths of their proposed projects, including their potential to protect ocean environments. Unique and timely projects, led by outstanding professionals in their fields, are chosen annually. The program is managed by the Pew Environment Group, based in Washington, D.C.

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More information about each of the 2012 Pew Marine Fellows, including photographs and a video about the recipients, is available at www.pewmarinefellows.org.

The Pew Environment Group is the conservation arm of The Pew Charitable Trusts, a non-governmental organization that works globally to establish pragmatic, science-based policies that protect our oceans, preserve our wildlands, and promote clean energy. www.PewEnvironment.org


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