Secretariat

The Sargasso Sea Commission is facilitated by a modest secretariat, operating out of the IUCN headquarters in Washington, D.C. The role of the Secretariat is to coordinate collaboration between the Commission, Signatories, and partners in order to keep the health, productivity, and resilience of the Sargasso Sea under review, as well as to develop safeguard measures for its conservation. It attends relevant conferences, organises meetings, maintains strong communication between partners, facilitates the development of proposals to international fora, and maintains administrative activities.

Sargasso Sea Commission
1630 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 300
Washington, DC 20009
+1 202 518 2071

DR DAVID FREESTONE

Executive Secretary

Dr. David Freestone (LL.D.) is Executive Secretary of the Sargasso Sea Commission, established in 2014 pursuant to the Hamilton Declaration on Collaboration for the Conservation of the Sargasso Sea, which now has ten Signatory Governments. The Secretariat is housed in the North American office of IUCN in Washington DC. From 1996-2008 he worked at the World Bank in Washington DC, first as head of the International and Environmental Law Group and from 2004-08 was Deputy General Counsel and Senior Adviser in the Office of the General Counsel. He is Visiting Scholar and Professorial Lecturer at The George Washington University Law School in Washington D.C. He has written widely on the Law of the Sea and international environmental law, and is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law established in 1985.

FAE SAPSFORD

Fae Sapsford is a Marine Research Fellow with the Sargasso Sea Commission. Fae supports the Commission with science communications, academic and financial tasks, and administerial activities. Her previous experience includes working for The Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences, The Bermudian Magazine, and BBC Wildlife in a science communications capacity. Fae has also participated in conservation research, including collecting data for a juvenile fish study with the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo, and participating in the Bermuda Turtle Project. Fae has a BA in English with Creative Writing from the University of Nottingham and an MPhil in Anglo-Saxon, Norse & Celtic from the University of Cambridge, and her dissertations for both degrees were ocean-related. She has recently completed a post-graduate diploma in law.