Kristina M. Gjerde

Guest Author

Kristina M. Gjerde (@4kgjerde), J.D., is Senior High Seas Advisor to Ocean Team at the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) and an adjunct professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, California, where she teaches international environmental laws of the sea. Kristina has been representing IUCN in meetings dealing with high seas and deep sea biodiversity since 2003. 

To stimulate science-based development of public international law for the marine environment, Kristina has authored and co-authored more than 200 publications and co-founded four initiatives: the Global Ocean Biodiversity Initiative, the Sargasso Sea Project, the High Seas Alliance, and the Deep Ocean Stewardship Initiative (DOSI). Kristina also currently serves on advisory boards for the Schmidt Ocean Institute, Ocean Voices Program, and Edinburgh Ocean Leaders; and previously served on the Executive Planning Group of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. In February 2023, Kristina received the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas Fred Packard Award for her efforts to secure protections in international law for the ocean beyond national jurisdiction. She is also on LinkedIn.