I direct the International Oceans Program at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), an environmental organization dedicated to protecting natural resources and public health with offices in the United States and China.
My work currently focuses on conservation and management of marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction, and area known as the “high seas.” Comprising two thirds of the world’s oceans and 45% of the planet’s surface, this global commons faces an increasing array of poorly controlled human activities. I conduct advocacy in a variety of international fora to promote integrated, ecosystem based management of human activities on the high seas, with a particular focus on marine fisheries. I have served on US delegations to many high seas fisheries negotiations, and have testified before Congress and the United Nations on a variety of high seas management topics.
My other major focus is advocating for ecosystem based management in the marine Arctic. I served on Arctic TRANSFORM, an EU-sponsored forum to develop policy options for the marine Arctic from 2008 to 2009. I co-chair the working team responsible for preparing recommendations on marine management and governance for consideration by the Aspen Institute’s international Commission on Climate Change and the Arctic.
I served on the National Academy of Sciences’ Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology from 2001-2007. I have also served on NAS Committees on the Arctic and on marine environmental monitoring. I received her Master’s degree from Yale University and my bachelor’s degree from Mount Holyoke College.
Posted May 6, 2013 by Lisa Speer in Reviving the World's Oceans, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places, Solving Global Warming
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you are probably aware that the Arctic is melting rapidly as the result of CO2 related global warming, and that spells trouble for polar bears, walrus, ice-seals and other ice dependent creatures. On...continued→
Posted August 29, 2012 by Lisa Speer in Reviving the World's Oceans, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places, Solving Global Warming
Sea ice in the Arctic thawed to a record low this past weekend, with even further declines expected in coming weeks As scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Center confirmed, the extent of sea ice in the Arctic...continued→
Posted March 26, 2012 by Lisa Speer in Reviving the World's Oceans
Yesterday, filmmaker James Cameron became the first solo explorer to reach the ocean’s deepest point, traveling nearly seven miles down through some of the darkest, most mysterious waters on Earth. Cameron’s successful venture to the bottom of the Mariana Trench...continued→
Posted March 7, 2012 by Lisa Speer in Reviving the World's Oceans
As summer sea ice disappears, Big Oil, commercial fishing, shipping and other industries have set their sights on the Arctic as a new source for profits. So far, mismanagement of virtually every other ocean on the planet has led us...continued→
Posted January 10, 2012 by Lisa Speer in Reviving the World's Oceans
I’ve been reviewing the oceans portion of what is called in UN-speak the “zero draft” of the Rio+20 intergovernmental outcome. This is the document governments will be negotiating over the next several months leading up to the Rio + 20...continued→
Posted July 6, 2011 by Lisa Speer in Reviving the World's Oceans, Solving Global Warming
“Not only are we already experiencing severe declines in many species to the point of commercial extinction in some cases, and an unparalleled rate of regional extinctions of habitat types (eg mangroves and seagrass meadows), but we now face...continued→
Posted June 7, 2011 by Lisa Speer in Reviving the World's Oceans, Solving Global Warming
One year from now, nations from around the world will convene to discuss the future of our planet at the Earth Summit 2012. As NRDC’s President Frances Beinecke says so well, this global meeting must be one of action, and...continued→
Posted May 12, 2011 by Lisa Speer in Reviving the World's Oceans, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
The meeting of foreign ministers from eight Arctic nations in Greenland has concluded, and the result is a very mixed bag. On the plus side, the Ministers went a long way toward strengthening the Arctic Council, and establishing it as...continued→
Posted May 9, 2011 by Lisa Speer in Reviving the World's Oceans, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places, Solving Global Warming
Last week Science reported that the observed effects of climate change in the Arctic are much more extensive and rapid than scientists predicted, adding a heightened urgency to a major meeting of Arctic Foreign Ministers, including Secretary of State Hillary...continued→
Posted April 27, 2011 by Lisa Speer in Reviving the World's Oceans, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
Off the shores of St. Lawrence Island in the frigid Bering Sea, Pacific walruses use their sensitive whiskers to find food: shrimp, crabs, soft corals, and mollusks that thrive in Arctic currents. They use their long tusks to “haul out”...continued→
Posted March 7, 2011 by Lisa Speer in Living Sustainably, Reviving the World's Oceans, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
Bottom trawling is hands-down the worst of all possible fishing practices. Weighted nets up to 200 feet long and 40 feet wide are dragged indiscriminately along the ocean floor, laying waste to everything in its path, regardless of whether it's...continued→
Posted June 3, 2010 by Lisa Speer in Reviving the World's Oceans
The largest oil disaster in American history continues to gush and grow in the Gulf of Mexico. With adults everywhere feeling helpless and horrified, as a mother I can’t help but wonder how our children nationwide are feeling. After all,...continued→
Posted May 27, 2010 by Lisa Speer in Moving Beyond Oil, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
My colleague Chuck Clusen posted a blog yesterday on the many reasons why offshore drilling in Alaska’s Arctic is a terrible idea. Today we learned that President has postponed drilling there for 6 months, pending the issuance of a report...continued→
Posted May 11, 2010 by Lisa Speer in Curbing Pollution, Moving Beyond Oil, Reviving the World's Oceans, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar today proposed the first of what we hope will be a long string of reforms aimed at strengthening the regulations of oil industry operations and curtailing the industry’s cozy relationship with the federal government agency responsible...continued→
Posted May 6, 2010 by Lisa Speer in Curbing Pollution, Moving Beyond Oil, Reviving the World's Oceans, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
When an oil spill happens, the first thing many people think of are the beaches, wetlands, birds and other life along the shore. And the impacts of oil on that life can be huge and devastating. While dispersing the oil...continued→
Switchboard is the staff blog of the Natural Resources Defense Council, the nation’s most effective environmental group. For more about our work, including in-depth policy documents, action alerts and ways you can contribute, visit NRDC.org.
