Pew Funds 7 Researchers to Advance Ocean Conservation

PHILADELPHIA—Today, The Pew Charitable Trusts announced the seven recipients of the 2023 Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation. The researchers—from Australia, Brazil, Cape Verde, China, the United Kingdom, and the United States—join a network of 202 Pew marine fellows from 42 countries.

“Pew has long supported experts whose considerable talents and solution-oriented approaches help address complex challenges in the marine environment,” said Susan K. Urahn, Pew’s president and CEO. “I’m pleased to welcome the newest cohort to the Pew marine fellows community, and I look forward to seeing the difference their projects will make in the coming years.”

The 2023 fellows will launch projects focusing on a range of topics, including supporting Indigenous-led conservation initiatives, strengthening ocean management through community engagement, and advancing technologies used to study marine life.

The 2023 cohort includes the first recipient of the Pew Marine and Biomedical Science Fellowship, which will support the application of techniques or technologies more commonly used in biomedical science to enhance marine conservation. The new fellowship is a partnership between the Pew Fellows Program in Marine Conservation and the Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences.

The Pew Fellows Program in Marine Conservation awards midcareer scientists and other experts $150,000 grants over three years to pursue marine conservation-oriented research projects. Marine fellows are selected by an international committee of marine science experts through a rigorous nomination and review process.

The 2023 fellows are:

Phillip Cleves, Ph.D.
Carnegie Institution for Science and Johns Hopkins University, USA

Phillip Cleves, the inaugural recipient of the Pew Marine and Biomedical Science Fellowship, will use cutting-edge gene editing methods to study the genetic factors that control the symbiotic relationship between reef-building corals and zooxanthellae, the photosynthetic algae that live within their tissues, as well as the genetic mechanisms that protect against coral bleaching.

Leandra Gonçalves, Ph.D.
Federal University of São Paulo, Brazil

Leandra Gonçalves will explore ways to improve marine conservation in the São Paulo State Marine Protected Areas Network by engaging local communities.

Marco Hatch, Ph.D.
Western Washington University, USA

Marco Hatch, the first fellowship recipient from the Samish Indian Nation, will help create a collaborative network of Indigenous community members and researchers throughout the Pacific Northwest in the United States and Canada, aiming to support Indigenous-led restoration of ancestral sea gardens—terraced intertidal areas created to extend habitats suitable for cultivating clams as food.

Emma Lee, trawlwulwuy woman, Ph.D.
Federation University Australia, tebrakunna country, Tasmania, Australia

Emma Lee, the first Indigenous Australian to receive the fellowship, will work with Aboriginal communities and state and federal research institutions to create a framework for Aboriginal inclusion and leadership in Tasmania’s marine research and conservation efforts.

Ifesinachi Okafor-Yarwood, Ph.D.
University of St. Andrews, United Kingdom

Ifesinachi Okafor-Yarwood will investigate the socioeconomic effects of fisheries closures on communities in Ghana. She will also research fisheries management practices inspired by local ecological knowledge to inform the development of locally appropriate marine conservation measures in West Africa.

Juan Patino-Martinez, Ph.D.
Maio Biodiversity Foundation, Cape Verde

Juan Patino-Martinez will develop new, low-cost, open-source satellite telemetry devices to scale up monitoring of highly mobile marine species such as sea turtles, sharks, and whales.

Stan Shea, M.Phil.
BLOOM Association Hong Kong and ADM Capital Foundation, China

Stan Shea will conduct the first in-depth analysis of a 10-year data set collected by citizen-scientist divers in Hong Kong to produce insights about the condition of the area’s diverse reef fish populations.