The Blue Economy in 2030: Vision for the Future

Saturday, October 21, 2023

4:00pm to 5:30pm

MIIS Garden, 424 Van Buren Street

Private event, for IEP/EPM students and alumni only

As part of the 1st Annual IEP OCRM Alumni Reunion, join us for a panel discussion in the MIIS garden on three blue economy topics:

Food

Michelle Huang, Head of Product, Wildtype

Michelle is the Head of Product at Wildtype, where she oversees Product Management, Product Commercialization, and Culinary. Headquartered in San Francisco, Wildtype is using cellular agriculture technology to create the cleanest, most sustainable seafood on the planet.

Originally from Taiwan, where culinary traditions are deeply woven into the cultural fabric, Michelle has dedicated nearly a decade working in the alternative protein space, with the mission of creating nutritious, sustainable, and delicious foods for our current and future generations. Prior to her role at Wildtype, Michelle was an early employee at Impossible Foods, where she led multiple mission-critical initiatives spanning product innovation and management, materials development, and global manufacturing strategy. While at Impossible, Michelle spearheaded innovation for the award-winning Impossible Burger 2.0, which was named TIME’s “Best 100 Inventions” of 2019, “Most Impactful Product” and “Best of the Best” at CES 2019.

Michelle received her B.S. in Nutritional Science from UC Berkeley and conducted clinical research focused on cardiovascular diseases at UCSF before embarking on her journey into the realm of alternative foods. When not thinking about food, Michelle can be found backpacking through the mountain ranges of Taiwan or playing basketball at her local gym.

Coastal Adaptation

Charles Lester, Director of the Ocean and Coastal Policy Center, Marine Science Institute, UC Santa Barbara

Dr. Charles Lester is the director of the Ocean and Coastal Policy Center in the Marine Science Institute at UC Santa Barbara, where he researches, writes, and advises about sea level rise, coastal resilience, and other aspects of coastal law, policy and management. Charles previously worked for the State of California and the California Coastal Commission for twenty years, including serving as the agency’s fourth executive director from 2011 to 2016. Previously, Charles was an assistant professor of political science at the University of Colorado, Boulder, where he taught environmental law and policy, with a focus on public lands governance and coastal zone management. He received his Ph.D. and J.D. from UC Berkeley, and a B.A. in Geochemistry from Columbia University.

Charles is an expert in integrated coastal management and California coastal law and policy. He has extensive experience in California, including managing or directing hundreds of coastal planning and regulatory projects for the Coastal Commission. In 2015, he led the agency’s completion of California’s first comprehensive land use guidance for addressing sea level rise and coastal protection on the outer coast (Sea Level Rise—Adopted Policy Guidance). Charles speaks regularly on coastal management, adaptation and resilience, including recently as part of a Congressional briefing on “west coast resilience” (Charles Lester at EESI).

Offshore Wind

Aspen Ellis, Nancy Foster Scholar, UC Santa Cruz   

Aspen Ellis is a Ph.D. Student in the Conservation Action Lab in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology department at the University of California Santa Cruz. She earned her B.S in Environmental Science from the University of Michigan, where she contributed to research on climate-related declines in songbird body size using museum specimens. She has since worked with an array of federal agencies, NGOs, and non-profits on seabird research and monitoring projects across the United States.

Aspen’s research is focused on exploring tangible seabird conservation measures, with a current emphasis on examining and mitigating the potential effects of offshore wind energy on at-risk seabird populations. She is passionate about teaching, mentorship, and finding ways to make her field more accessible to future generations.

Questions:  Contact Rachel Christopherson, rchristo@miis.edu or 831-647-4183