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08/25/2009
Coastal Commission, Sunset magazine honors Packard and others
Monterey Bay Aquarium Executive Director Julie Packard has been named one of nine 2009 California Coastal Heroes by Sunset magazine and the California Coastal Commission. She and her fellow honorees are profiled in the September issue of Sunset and will be honored at the California Coastal Commission's 25th anniversary celebration in San Francisco on September 17.
Packard, the “extraordinary” executive director of the aquarium – which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, on October 20 – was recognized for her leadership of an institution that “has been the standard by which all other aquariums are measured,” according to Katie Tamony, Sunset’s editor-in-chief.
Under her leadership, the aquarium has pioneered innovative exhibits and education initiatives, and has evolved into one of the nation’s leading ocean conservation organizations through its Seafood Watch program, its activities on behalf of ocean policy reform, and field research that is throwing new light on the challenges facing sea otters, white sharks and bluefin tuna in the wild.
A graduate of the University of California, Santa Cruz with bachelors and masters degrees in biology, she brings a lifelong passion for the natural world to her service with many organizations dedicated to conservation activities. She is a trustee of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and chairs the board of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, a leader in development of new technologies for understanding the deep sea and global ocean. She has also served on the boards of the California Nature Conservancy and World Wildlife Fund.
A member of the Pew Oceans Commission, she now serves on the Joint Oceans Commission Initiative that works to implement comprehensive reform of U.S. ocean policy.
Packard was the 1998 recipient of the Audubon Medal for Conservation and the 2004 Ted Danson Ocean Hero Award from Oceana. Earlier this year, she was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences – one of the nation’s most prestigious honorary societies.
She will be honored as a Coastal Hero along with John Hanke of Google Earth, Linda Sheehan of the California Coastkeeper Alliance, State Sen. Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach), Serge Dedina of Wildcoast, actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus, marine scientist Dr. Gary Griggs, and Pierce and Keely Brosnan.
In 2009, the Monterey Bay Aquarium celebrates 25 years of inspiring ocean conservation.
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