Seth Blitch

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Gulf of Mexico

Leadership in the Gulf

Profile

Seth Blitch, Director Of Coastal And Marine Conservation. © Amy Kyle Smith/TNC

Director Of Coastal And Marine Conservation
The Nature Conservancy in Louisiana

Contact Information

E-mail: sblitch@tnc.org

Brief Biography

Seth was born, raised and lived in Florida his entire life before moving to Baton Rouge in January 2011 to work for the Conservancy. “Having spent much of my childhood and career on the Gulf, it’s hard to nail down a favorite memory here,” he says. “But the thing that first inspired me as a child, and continues to do so today as a parent, is fishing with my family. Time on the Gulf with those you cherish can’t be beat.”

Seth’s love of the Gulf led him to a career in which he’s now able to be involved in efforts to restore and protect it. At the Conservancy, he oversees conservation and restoration activities along Louisiana’s coastal areas that produce benefits for nature and people. Before joining the Conservancy, Seth was the director of the Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve, located in the Florida panhandle. While there he led efforts to characterize how reduced flows from the Apalachicola, Chatahoochee, Flint rivers were affecting the natural communities within Apalachicola Bay, which produces 90 percent of Florida’s commercially harvested oysters. Seth also served as the northwest regional administrator for Florida’s aquatic preserve program.

Seth, who has a biology degree from the University of Central Florida, says restoration is a process that must be embraced locally. “And when coastal communities – and beyond – recognize the value of the Gulf and even celebrate their connection to this body of water, restoration makes good sense to people.”