Our board of directors consist of activists, scientists, advocates, artists and environmental experts. Board members are nominated by existing members or selected because of the expertise they can provide to further our mission.
Board of Directors
David Schwartz – President
Founder, Sustainable Plans International
David A. Schwartz is a founding Partner of Schwartz and Associates, an landscape architecture firm. He has over thirty years of design, planning and landscape construction experience. David earned a Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of California at Berkeley and a Bachelor of Science from Humboldt State University. His environmental sciences background is a key in the development of sustainable landscapes. He is also an avid fisherman, kayaker and diver.
Scott Fielder – Treasurer
Attorney, Fielder Law
Scott Fielder is a California attorney. He has been in private practice since 1978 and specializes in personal injury and wrongful death litigation. He has also worked extensively on a pro-bono (volunteer) basis on cases involving nuclear power plant decommissioning and safety. Along with his successful practice as an attorney Scott is an active scuba diver and marine conservationist.
Wendy Benchley
Marine Conservationist, Peter Benchley Ocean Awards
Wendy is a long-time environmental and marine conservation activist. She is co-founder and Trustee of the New Jersey Environmental Federation (NJEF), founder of the Mercer Citizens for Public Accountability, a member of the board of Shark Savers, and Advisory Trustee at Environmental Defense Fund. She served as an elected member of the Mercer County Board of Chosen Freeholders and the Princeton Borough Council.
Vicki Nichols Goldstein
Founder, Inland Ocean Coalition
Vicki Nichols Goldstein is the founder of Inland Ocean Coalition. Vicki has worked in the non-profit and ocean conservation field for over twenty-five years addressing a multitude of issues including vessel traffic, sustainable seafood, oil spill contingency planning, and fisheries interactions. While working for NOAA she co-wrote the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Designation Documents. During her 10 years as Executive Director of Save Our Shores, she initiated and organized the first Central California Fishermen’s Forum on Marine Protected Areas and developed the Sanctuary Stewards Certification and Dock Walkers Programs. In 2010, she formed the Colorado Ocean Coalition where she is protecting oceans from a mile high.
David Helvarg
Founder and Executive Director, Blue Frontier Campaign
David Helvarg is founder and President of the Blue Frontier Campaign. A long time ocean enthusiast, he is the author of Saved by the Sea, Rescue Warriors, Blue Frontier, 50 Ways to Save the Ocean and The War Against the Greens, and editor of The Ocean and Coastal Conservation Guide. He has worked as a war correspondent and award-winning journalist in Northern Ireland and Central America, and reported from every continent, including Antarctica.
Dr. Nancy Knowlton
Sant Chair in Marine Science Emerita, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
Dr. Nancy Knowlton is Sant Chair for Marine Science Emerita at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C. Prior to coming to the museum she was faculty of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (1998-2007), where she founded the Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation. She is an Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellow, a winner of the Peter Benchley Prize and the Heinz Award, and was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in 2013. She helped direct the Census of Marine Life coral reef program and has served on the boards of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Coral Reef Alliance. Dr. Knowlton’s research centers on the diversity and conservation of life in the ocean.
Cindy Zipf
Executive Director, Clean Ocean Action, NJ
Cindy Zipf is founder and Executive Director of Clean Ocean Action, a broad-based coalition of 180 organizations, and the Mid-Atlantic region’s largest and most effective voice for the sea. In her position as founder and Director of COA she has helped lead efforts that resulted in the passage of landmark federal and state legislation.
Joy Leilei Shih
Chair, Sierra Club National Marine Team
Joy Leilei Shih is the Chair of the Sierra Club National Marine Team, representing ocean issues and interests in the largest environmental group in the U.S. She received a Ph.D. in Oceanography from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and a Masters in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation from Scripps Institution of Oceanography. She has conducted research on coral reefs in French Polynesia, Hawaiʻi, and the Florida Keys, and was an aquanaut at Aquarius, the only undersea laboratory in the world. She has collaborated with Blue Frontier in a number of activities including most recently in our meetings this June with agency leaders to discuss our Ocean Climate Action Plan and report.
Sean Russell
Director, Youth Engagement and Partnerships at Earth Echo International
Sean Russell is Director of Youth Engagement and Partnerships for Earth Echo International (founded by previous board member Philippe Cousteau). For over a decade, Sean Russell has worked with a diverse set of non-profit organizations, corporations, and government agencies, to elevate the role of youth leadership in the fields of marine science, education, and conservation. Additionally, Sean is the founder and director of the Youth Ocean Conservation Summit. Sean serves on the National Marine Educators Association Board of Directors and as a member of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument Community Group, He is also the 2013 Peter Benchley – Christopher Benchley Youth Award recipient.
Advisory Board Members
Dr. Sylvia Earle – National Geographic Explorer in Residence
John Racanelli – President & CEO National Aquarium
Jeremy Rifkin – Author, President, Foundation on Economic Trends
Randy Hayes – Founder, Rainforest Action Network, Foundation Earth
John Hocevar – Ocean Campaign Director, Greenpeace USA
Philippe and Ashlan Cousteau – TV Hosts and Ocean Explorers
Marc Yaggi – Executive Director, Waterkeeper Alliance
Greg and Barbara MacGillivray – MacGillivray Freeman Films
Liz Taylor – President, DOER Marine
Jason Scorse – Director, Center for the Blue Economy
Mark Haver – Youth Ocean policy advisor
Ms. Hannah Testa – Sustainability Advocate, Hannah4Change
Dr. Wallace J. Nichols – Marine Biologist, author/founder Blue Mind
Dr. Stephen Palumbi – Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University
Andres Soto – Richmond Shoreline Alliance
Serge Dedina – WILDCOAST
Cynthia Sarthou – Executive Director, Healthy Gulf
Ana Blanco – Executive Director, International Ocean Film Festival
Craig McLean – Director of NOAA Research (Ret.)
Casi Calloway – Chief Resilience Officer – Mobile, AL
