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IGU and UCI Co-Hosting Nov. 5 Event to Examine High Seas Biodiversity Treaty

Monmouth University’s Institute for Global Understanding (IGU) and Urban Coast Institute (UCI) will co-host the second Global Ocean Governance lecture series event on November 5 from 2:30 p.m.- 3:30 p.m. The event features Prof. Cymie Payne, Associate Professor at Rutgers University, and Guillermo Ortuño Crespo, postdoctoral researcher at the Stockholm Resilience Center and coordinator of early career professional engagement for the UN Decade of Ocean Science. The event will be hosted via Zoom and is free and open to the public, but registration is required. A link will be provided upon registration.

Human exploitation of the open ocean has increased rapidly over the past few decades. Years of negotiation are coming to fruition with a new treaty to manage conservation and sustainable use of life in the connected, dynamic global ocean. The challenge for governments is to prioritize long-term health over short-term sectoral interests with an effective treaty for biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ). It will be pivotal for ensuring the health and well-being of U.S. ecosystems and coastal communities.

Cymie R. Payne is an associate professor at Rutgers University. She holds a joint appointment in the Department of Human Ecology and at Rutgers Law School. Currently, she is legal advisor to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s delegation to the intergovernmental conference for a legally binding agreement on conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction and chair of the IUCN World Commission on Environmental, Ocean, Coasts, and Coral Reefs Specialist Group.

Dr. Guillermo Ortuño Crespo is a marine ecologist with a master of science from the University of St. Andrews in ecosystem-based management of marine systems and a doctorate in marine science and conservation from Duke University. Throughout his postdoc at the Stockholm Resilience Centre he will be working on a novel spatial management study in collaboration with the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) to develop the first ever tuna-RFMO dynamic spatial management strategy. He is also a part of the UN Decade of Ocean Science and is facilitating conversation on corporate sustainability.