The Status of International Ocean Acidification Policy Activities

The program aims to observe how, where, and how quickly changes are occurring by working with international partners to train scientists and resource managers in ocean acidification monitoring.  In addition, the Ocean Foundation is translating that scientific knowledge into political action.   Cultivating relationships with key government actors around the world and fostering ocean champions has led to positively impacting ocean acidification policy in local communities.  This multipronged, cross-cutting approach has had many successes, but challenges and knowledge gaps persist.  Join Dr. Spalding as he discusses this innovative approach to the broad problem of ocean acidification.

About the Speaker

Mark J. Spalding has been the President of The Ocean Foundation since its founding in 2002. Under his leadership, it has grown exponentially from a $200,000 to $7 million/year budget, as he prioritized its focus on steering the human relationship with the sea to a brighter future through diverse, carefully chosen strategies and projects. Mark drove the design and establishment of the Alaska Oceans Program, the Shipping Safety Partnership, the Loreto Bay Foundation and the St. Kitts Foundation. Mark is the advisor to the Rockefeller Ocean Strategy (an unprecedented ocean-centric investment fund), and designed the first-ever blue carbon offset program, SeaGrass Grow. He is a member of the Ocean Studies Board of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Mark is serving on the Sargasso Sea Commission. He is a member of the Pool of Experts for the UN World Ocean Assessment, and a Senior Fellow at the Center for the Blue Economy, at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. From 1994 to 2003, Mark was the Director of the Environmental Law and Civil Society Program, and Editor of the Journal of Environment and Development, at UCSD’s Graduate School of International Relations & Pacific Studies (IR/PS). In addition to lecturing at IR/PS, Mark has taught at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD’s Muir College, UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy, and University of San Diego’s School of Law. He was a research fellow at UCSD’s Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, a Sustainability Institute – Donella Meadows Leadership Fellow and a SeaWeb Senior Fellow. He holds a B.A. in history with Honors from Claremont McKenna College, a J.D. from Loyola Law School, and a Master in Pacific International Affairs (MPIA) from IR/PS. He is a graduate of the British School of Motor Racing. Mark’s deep connection with the ocean began as a young boy growing up in the Central Valley of California; each time he crested the coastal range and the Pacific came into view, it was like a breath of fresh air. (Mark concurrently serves as the CEO and President of SeaWeb)

Directions

Visit our interactive campus map for directions. 

Parking

Parking is available in any Middlebury Institute campus lot after 5 p.m., or on the street (time limits on surrounding streets end at 6 p.m.)

Questions

Contact Rachel Christopherson at the Center for the Blue Economy at cbe@miis.edu or (831) 647-6615 ext. 1.