People

Stephanie Wear, Marine Protected Areas Specialist

Stephanie Wear
Marine Protected Areas Specialist, TNC Global Marine Initiative

Brief Biography
Stephanie Wear began working with The Nature Conservancy in 2001 in the Eastern Caribbean Program as a Protected Areas Specialist.  While in the Caribbean, Stephanie lead strategic conservation planning activities and managed a variety of conservation projects both terrestrial and marine.  Her role included working with fishers on research and education initiatives, watershed management planning, and a variety of protected area work.  Central to her responsibilities was supporting the development of a network of protected areas, and the designation of the St. Croix East End Marine Park.  Stephanie worked with local stakeholders including fishers, scientists, government agencies, and community leaders to develop and implement a management plan for this historic designation.  In 2004, she took the position of Reef Resilience Coordinator with the Global Marine Initiative.  Her work focused on the development and implementation of a series of regional resilience training workshops that were conducted in many of the major coral reef regions of the world, including the Caribbean, Western Pacific, Southeast Asia, Western Indian Ocean, and South Asia.  In addition, she has been working to support field programs in the application of resilience principles on the ground.  In 2006, Stephanie's role within the initiative evolved into becoming a Marine Protected Area Specialist as she continues to work with marine conservation practitioners to build resilience into MPAs and MPA networks.
 
Education:
University of Virginia, B.S. Environmental Sciences
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, M.S. Marine Sciences