Table of Contents

About the Authors

Barbara Best is a Coastal Resource and Policy Adviser for Environment at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Trained as a marine biologist, she has worked on marine and coastal management issues in the Caribbean, Central America, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. Her expertise includes integrated coastal zone management, marine resource use, and marine biodiversity conservation. She previously held research and teaching positions at Columbia University, University of California, Berkeley, and Colby College.

Alan Bornbusch joined the AAAS in 2000 as Director of the Africa Program within the Directorate for International Programs. He leads a program focused on capacity building for science and technology in Africa, through Africa-U.S. partnerships. Prior to joining AAAS, he held positions with the Kenya Wildlife Service, USAID, and as a professor in biological sciences. His prior research and teaching included conservation biology, systematic biology, and genetics.

Franklin Moore is presently Acting Director for Environment, as well as an Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for USAID. He has broad background and experience in agriculture, natural resource economics, and rural sociology. He has worked extensively throughout Africa and Asia. Prior to joining USAID, he held positions in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Peace Corps, and Africare.

Now Director of the Center for Conservation and Sustainable Development at the Missouri Botanical Gardens, Roger McManus was President of the Center for Marine Conservation (CMC) for 15 years. CMC is the largest U.S. environmental organization dedicated to marine conservation issues. In 2000, McManus was on special assignment to the U.S. Department of the Interior as Senior Adviser for Oceans. He has worked on a variety of issues related to endangered species and trade in the international and domestic arenas.

Charles Birkeland recently moved from the University of Guam to the University of Hawaii where he is with the Hawaii Cooperative Fishery Research Unit. He is also serving as Chairman of the Coral Reef Ecosystem Fishery Management Plan Team of the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council. Birkeland has studied coral reef ecology for over 30 years at the Smithsonian Institution and the University of Guam Marine Laboratory. He has authored a book on the crown-of-thorns starfish as a major management problem for coral reefs, and edited the 1997 book Life and Death of Coral Reefs.

Now Director of the Species Programme at WWF (Worldwide Fund for Nature) International, Susan Lieberman was previously Chief of the Division of Scientific Authority of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). She held that position for three years, and worked in the International Affairs Program of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for 11 years. The Division has the lead for all scientific work and assessments related to CITES and other laws and treaties, including conservation evaluations of the impacts of international trade on species of plants and animals. Lieberman has an extensive background in all aspects of international conservation policy, with a focus on international wildlife trade and the conservation of threatened and endangered species. . Her current position with WWF involves directing the global species conservation programme of the WWF Network (found in more than 96 countries), and includes a major focus on international wildlife trade.

John Field has worked for the USFWS International Affairs Program since 1999. In his work with the Service's Division of Scientific Authority, he helps develop U.S. positions on diverse international marine conservation issues such as whaling, the marine ornamental pet trade, and high seas fisheries. These tasks are part of the Division's responsibility for implementing certain aspects of CITES, and for listing foreign species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Prior to joining USFWS, he held positions with the National Ocean Service and Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.

Formerly a Senior Vice President at Ruder Finn, one of the largest independently held public relations firms in the world, Vikki Spruill has been Executive Director of SeaWeb since 1995. SeaWeb is a non-profit organization that uses strategic communications techniques to advance ocean conservation. She has used her marketing and communications skills from the private sector to lead SeaWeb to become an important ocean conservation organization. Issues of concern to SeaWeb include overfishing, marine reserves, sustainable seafood consumption, and aquaculture.

Lisa Dropkin is currently research director for SeaWeb. Prior to joining SeaWeb, she was Vice-President at the Mellman Group, a public opinion research and campaign strategy firm. While at the Mellman Group, she conducted research and consulted for a number of conservation organizations across a wide variety of environmental issues, including overseeing SeaWeb's public opinion research. Dropkin also serves as a professional guide to American politics for the Meridian International Center's democracy exchange program.