Colloquium Keynote Speaker

Friday, November 8th - Saturday, November 9th

Keynote Speaker 2024

Dr. Jacqueline Padilla-Gamiño

Bio Sketch – Sara McDonald, PhD

Dr. McDonald is the Director of Conservation for the South Carolina Aquarium. She is focusing work on their priority conservation issues of improving resilience of coastal communities in the face of sea level rise, reducing plastic pollution, empowering citizen scientists, participating in research and field work, and supporting local, sustainable seafood. As a Senior Fisheries Scientist for the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program, Sara led work on bycatch and managed the collaborative Seafood Social Risk Tool, a tool that assesses the risk of forced labor, human trafficking, and hazardous child labor in seafood value chains. Prior to joining the Seafood Watch team, Sara served as a program manager for the Duke Marine Lab. She also was a marine research associate for the Florida manatee program at the State of Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, and a fisheries biologist for the National Marine Fisheries Service.  She currently is an affiliate with the Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the College of Charleston’s Graduate Program in Environmental Studies. She recently completed two terms as a member of the Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee for NOAA Fisheries. Sara received her PhD in marine science and conservation and B.S. in zoology from Duke University and her M.S. in marine biology from the Florida Institute of Technology.

Keynote Address

Yes, and…
How embracing different perspectives can lead to more robust solutions to wicked marine environmental problems

Many years ago, I sat where you are. I was an aspiring marine mammal researcher and excited about learning everything I could about marine life and marine ecosystems. I was all about the animals and the ocean because well, they’re pretty cool. Until recently, pedagogy siloed the sciences from each other and especially from the social sciences. By telling my story as a manatee biologist, government regulator, project manager, PhD student, sustainable seafood professional, seafood slavery investigator, graduate advisor and ultimately, a community-based conservation leader, I aim to show how I became as passionate about the people as I am about the ocean and that sometimes when you say yes, things become very interesting!