Keynote Speaker
Linwood Pendleton
Linwood Pendleton
Global Coordinator
Ocean Knowledge Action Network
Science Director
Moonjelly Foundation
International Chair of Excellence
Université de Bretagne Occidentale
From the Rappahannock to Rarotonga:
Bridging Science, Policy, and Coastal Community
My family first landed in Essex County, Virginia, in 1674. Fishing, crabbing, swimming, and boating on the Rappahannock River have long been part of who we are.
In 1985, I graduated from William and Mary and set out to see the rest of the world. Since then, I’ve had the opportunity to hold different kinds of jobs in coastal communities around the planet. I’ve spent time in boardrooms and classrooms, on big stages and backwaters.
The challenges facing Virginia’s coastlines are significant, but our capacity to adapt is stronger when we understand each other and act together. In this keynote, I’ll share experiences from my own career about how I have learned to work with coastal leaders across many cultures. I’ll talk about how “immersion learning” helped me make Santa Monica Bay cleaner for swimmers, protect a big wave surf spot, and led to the recognition of “blue carbon” as a legitimate tool for meeting climate targets. We will move beyond the traditional lecture using collaborative approaches I’ve learned in the course of my work. We will participate in exercises designed to break down silos, build trust, and forge new connections. By the end of our time together, I think you will leave with new ideas, actionable tools, and a strengthened network, ready to continue your vital work in securing a resilient future for Virginia’s shores.
I hold the International Chair of Excellence at the European Institute for Marine Studies at the University of Western Brittany in France. I’m the Global Coordinator of the Ocean Knowledge Action Network and the Science Director of the Moonjelly Foundation. I have had the chance to hold a number of academic posts. I was a tenured associate professor at UCLA and an assistant professor at the University of Southern California and the University of Wyoming. I’ve also tried my hand at a number of non-academic posts. I was the Senior Vice President for Science at the Centre for the 4th Industrial Revolution: Ocean; Global Lead for Ocean Science at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF); and Director of Ocean and Coastal Policy at Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions. I served as the Acting Chief Economist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
At the global level, I participated in a number of UN processes, including time spent as a member of the Executive Planning Committee and the Interim Advisory Board for the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development and later as a member of the Advisory Board of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.
I grew up along the tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia where we crabbed and I fished with my dad to fill our freezer for the winter. Since then I have worked to make coastal areas better places for people. My research with Suzie Givens and Ali Boehm led to the U.S. EPA’s first fines for contaminated beach water (TMDLs). Today, I lead a global network that connects ocean professionals and scientists around the world. My current research focuses on facilitating the sharing of knowledge across Indigenous coastal communities.
Linwood Pendleton
Global Coordinator
Ocean Knowledge Action Network
Science Director
Moonjelly Foundation
International Chair of Excellence
Université de Bretagne Occidentale
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