Erin Meyer serves as the Seattle Aquarium’s vice president of conservation programs and partnerships. In her role, she directs conservation programming across three main areas – science, policy and sustainability. Before working at the Seattle Aquarium, she served as a senior scientist and senior program manager at the California Ocean Science Trust.
Meyer earned a PhD in integrative biology from the University of California, Berkeley. Her doctoral research focused on ecology, conservation and the management of coastal fisheries in the wider Caribbean. She also holds two BSc degrees from Rutgers University in biological oceanography and conservation ecology.
Additionally, Meyer has carried out research on kelp forest ecosystems at the University of Alaska Southeast, coral and seagrass ecosystems at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences, and bivalve biodiversity and ecology at Burapha University in Thailand. She has taught and developed curriculum for courses in conservation biology, invertebrate zoology, marine biology and oceanography.
Meyer helped build the ReShark global coalition in response to the growing disappearance of sharks and rays due to fishing and habitat loss. She also chairs the project’s steering committee. “Aquariums have been advocating to protect ocean health, mobilizing communities and educating people about endangered marine animals. We can also help reverse the exponentially increasing number of species listed as endangered or critically endangered,” said Meyer.
“For some endangered species, protecting and restoring habitat areas isn’t sufficient. Because if their numbers get too low, they can’t successfully reproduce. And that’s where aquariums can step in because we are the organizations with the expertise and experience in breeding, rearing, feeding and caring for these animals in ways that no other organization can do. It’s an incredible opportunity to put our knowledge to work to restore threatened species in the ocean.”