George Leonard

George Leonard, Director of Aquaculture, Ocean Conservancy.

"George Leonard focuses on Ocean Conservancy's legislative activities surrounding the development of open ocean aquaculture in state and federal waters to ensure that U.S. aquaculture develops under strong environmental standards. For the previous five years, he was the Senior Science Manager for Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch program where he was responsible for overseeing the research and analysis of capture fisheries and aquaculture practices related to the development of sustainability recommendations for the public and businesses. These recommendations were presented in the form of regional, wallet-sized pocket guides for consumers as well as sourcing guidance for major seafood buyers. George holds a Ph.D. in ecology and evolutionary biology from Brown University and a MS in Marine Science from Moss Landing Marine Laboratories. Before joining Seafood Watch in early 2002, he was the Program Manager for COMPASS (the Communication Partnership for Science and the Sea) where he helped communicate emerging marine conservation science to policymakers, NGOs and resource managers."