Kristina Gjerde
Senior High Seas Advisor
International Union for Conservation of Nature
SSA Legal Work Group Chair

Kristina M Gjerde is senior high seas advisor to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Global Marine and Polar Programme. (www.IUCN.org/marine/). At IUCN she fosters international efforts to improve the conservation and management of the high seas and deep seabed beyond national jurisdiction.

A graduate of New York University, School of Law, Kristina is a recognised expert in international marine environmental law. She has published widely on fisheries, shipping, law of the sea and marine conservation and serves as an advisor to governments, international organisations and non-governmental organisations. Recent publications include: “Marine Protected Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction: Some Practical Perspectives for Moving Ahead”, (International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law); Designating Networks of Chemosynthetic Ecosystem Reserves in the Deep Sea (Marine Policy); and High Seas Fisheries Governance: Prospects and Challenge (THE WORLD OCEAN IN GLOBALISATION: CHALLENGES AND RESPONSES).

Kristina initially specialized in admiralty law at the New York City law firm of Lord, Day & Lord. She later served as a research fellow at the Marine Policy Center of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and research fellow/guest lecturer at the University of Hull Law School  (UK), and represented WWF at the International Maritime Organisation in London. In 2003, she was awarded a three-year Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation (www.pewenvironment.org/research-programs/marine-fellows/) to support her work on high seas governance. Kristina co-founded and currently serves on the boards of three initiatives: the Global Ocean Biodiversity Initiative (www.gobi.org/), the Sargasso Sea Alliance (www.sargassoalliance.org/) and the High Seas Alliance (http://highseasalliance.org/).