Elizabeth Mcleod

Dr. Lizzie Mcleod serves as The Nature Conservancy's champion for ocean conservation, leading work to protect, manage and restore marine ecosystems, support sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, and address climate change through blue carbon and other nature-based solutions. An internationally recognized ocean expert and communicator, she contributes to global ocean and climate think tanks, serves on multiple scientific panels and leads key engagements at global biodiversity and climate policy events. Lizzie has lived and worked in Asia, the Pacific, the Caribbean and the United States, providing scientific and strategic guidance to field teams in more than 50 countries. She has led strategies to reduce climate impacts on marine ecosystems and coastal communities and to elevate women's leadership in climate and biodiversity policy and practice. She has led research with more than 25 of the world's top marine research institutions and published extensively on marine protected areas, conservation planning, reefs, fisheries, climate change and blue carbon. Lizzie has been instrumental in securing major global partnerships that raise awareness and funding for ocean conservation, including the Keep Our Oceans Amazing campaign with Disney and "Avatar: The Way of Water." Previously, she led TNC's Global Reefs Program, served as a climate scientist and led science for the Reef Resilience Network, which supports more than 61,000 marine managers worldwide.

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