Advisory & Trustees of the Board | World Ocean Observatory

Board of Directors (2025)*
* 100% of the board participates in annual giving to the W2O

BOARD CHAIR,
Tundi Agardy, Ph.D.

Tundi Agardy works at the interface between science and policy in marine systems around the world.  She is an internationally renowned expert in marine conservation, with extensive field experience in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean and North America. She is the Executive Director of Sound Seas, a marine conservation policy group based in the Washington D.C. area that develops initiatives to promote truly effective marine conservation by working at the interface between public policy and community-based conservation at the more localized level. Her major research interests and publications focus on coastal and marine planning, ocean zoning, marine protected areas, ecosystem services, and marine ecosystem based management and has published widely, including the book “Marine Protected Areas and Ocean Conservation” (Academic Press, 1997.) She has consulted with such groups as the Center for Environmental Cooperation (Canada, U.S., Mexico), American Museum of Natural History, Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, Italian Ministry of Environment, World Bank, MacArthur Foundation, WorldFish Center, Ecological Society of America, California Marine Life Protection Act Task Force, and The Nature Conservancy. Tundi received her PhD in Biological Sciences and a Masters in Marine Affairs from the University of Rhode Island.

Andrew Hudson, Ph.D.

Andy has held leadership positions in international and nongovernmental organizations, and has worked as a scientist and educator. From 1996 to 2022, he was Head of the United Nations Development Programme’s Water & Ocean Governance Programme, where he led the mobilization and implementation oversight of $1 billion in grant financing for the protection and restoration of some of the world’s most significant marine and freshwater ecosystems. From 2010 to 2013, he served as the coordinator of UN-Oceans, the UN’s interagency coordination mechanism on oceans. He also conceptualized, raised funding for, and initiated implementation of UNDP’s Ocean Innovation Challenge, which awards competitive grants to entities (NGOs, academia, start-ups, etc.) advancing innovative solutions–technical, policy, economic, financial – to key ocean challenges, such as plastics pollution and overfishing. Andy also served as Executive Director of the Center for Field Research at Earthwatch Institute, leading the development of an annual portfolio of over 150 research and conservation projects for Earthwatch funding. Originally trained and practicing as a chemical oceanographer (MIT, University of Rhode Island), Hudson completed his Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences at the University of Massachusetts/Boston, specializing in marine policy and resource economics. He has also taught at the university and secondary school levels and has served as a speaker or moderator at numerous ocean-related international conferences and events, such as the UN Ocean Conference and the Economist World Ocean Summit.

Wendy Watson-Wright, Ph.D.

Dr. Watson-Wright retired in December 2019 as the inaugural CEO of the Ocean Frontier Institute (OFI), an interdisciplinary transnational research institute based in Atlantic Canada. From 2010 to 2015, she served as the Executive Secretary and Assistant Director General of UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC-UNESCO) in Paris. For most of her career, she held various senior positions within Fisheries and Oceans Canada, including eight years as its Assistant Deputy Minister of Science. She is a member of and gender focal point for the UN Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine environmental Protection (GESAMP) and serves on several boards and panels. A Killam scholar, she holds a Ph.D. in Physiology from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Dr. Paul Mayewski

Dr. Paul Andrew Mayewski is an internationally acclaimed glaciologist, climate scientist and polar explorer. He is the Director of the multidisciplinary Climate Change Institute and Distinguished Professor in the School of Earth Sciences, School of Marine Sciences, School of Policy and International Affairs, Business School and Law School, all at the University of Maine.

His contributions to science include: the discovery of abrupt climate change driven by atmospheric circulation, human impacts on the chemistry of the atmosphere, impacts of climate change on humans and the ecosystem, new methods for ultra-high resolution ice core sampling, pioneering ice core-climate calibration techniques, the history of human source toxic metal emissions, and the application of past and present climate research to modern day challenges such as health, climate prediction and climate education. His achievements in exploration include leading teams into uncharted regions of Antarctica, many thousands of kilometers of polar surface traversing and numerous first ascents of mountains all to gain scientific knowledge.

Paul has started and led several prominent research projects most notably he is the first person to develop and lead highly successful, interdisciplinary climate research programs at the three poles (Greenland (25 US institutions), the International Trans Antarctic Expedition (21 countries) and the Himalayas/Tibetan Plateau (most recently the National Geographic and Rolex Perpetual Planet Mt. Everest Expedition - 34 international researchers) that attained three Guinness Book of World records. He has more than 500 scientific publications, hundreds of popular and scientific lectures worldwide, two popular books “The Ice Chronicles” and “Journey Into Climate”, and has appeared hundreds of times in media such as: the New York and LA Times, NOVA, NPR, BBC, multiple CBS 60 Minutes shows, and the Emmy Award Winning “Years of Living Dangerously”.

Peter Neill, Chair, Director

PETER NEILL is founding Director and Senior Advisor of the World Ocean Observatory (W2O). Peter served 20 years (1985-2005) as President of the South Street Seaport Museum, New York; as past Director of Schooner, Inc., an environmental education organization for Long Island Sound (1980-1984); as past Director of the Connecticut Marine Science Consortium (1982-1984); and as past Director for Maritime Preservation for the National Trust for Historic Preservation (1984-1985). He is a graduate of St. Paul’s School (1959), Stanford University (BA 1963), the US Army (1964-66), and the University of Iowa Writers Workshop (MFA 1969).  Mr. Neill has served as an adjunct professor of English at Yale University, Fairfield University, and Tsuda College, Tokyo, (1970-80) and as Editor of the Yale Alumni Magazine and Journal (1979-80). In 2015 Mr. Neill was appointed an Adjunct Research Associate, Climate Change Institute, University of Maine.

Throughout his career, Mr. Neill has served as an independent consultant for strategic planning and innovation to organizations devoted to marine affairs, education, and public engagement. He is a past President of the Council of American Maritime Museums and the International Congress of Maritime Museums.

He is a co-founder of The Sound School, New Haven, CT., and The Harbor School, New York, NY, two innovative public high schools that use maritime history and environment as a context for teaching and learning. He has appeared on numerous television documentaries on PBS, A&E, Discovery and National Geographic Society productions, and has lectured widely on ocean issues. He often lectures at colleges, high schools, maritime museums, environmental organizations, and national and international conferences on ocean issues.  

Peter has published many novels and non-fiction books: Oceanic Feeling, 2023; Aqua/Terra: Reflections on the World Ocean, 2021; The Once and Future Ocean: Notes Toward a New Hydraulic Society, 2016. His other publications include three novels (A Time Piece, 1970; Mock Turtle Soup, 1972; and Acoma, 1978)(re-issued in 2014, as 3, an omnibus edition); three non-fiction books, (Maritime America, 1988; Great Maritime Museums of the World, 1991; and On a Painted Ocean, 1998), and two anthologies (The City: American Experience, 1978; American Sea Writing. 2000). His articles, introductions, photographs, and blogs have appeared in Smithsonian, NY Times, Wooden Boat, Huffington Post, Asia, Wings (JAL Inflight), and other publications on contemporary and maritime subjects.

Trisha Badger, Secretary/Treasurer
Mary Barnes

 

Board of Advisors (2024)
The following individuals have participated significantly
in the development of the World Ocean Observatory.