Kristina Gjerde
American high seas policy advisor (1957–2025)

Kristina Gjerde
High school yearbook portrait, 1975
BornAugust 24, 1957
Walnut Creek, California, U.S.
Died (aged 68)
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
EducationUniversity of California, Los Angeles
New York University (JD)
OccupationOceanographer
EmployerInternational Union for Conservation of Nature
Known forMarine law, ocean conservation

Kristina Maria Gjerde[1] (August 24, 1957 – December 26, 2025) was an American oceanographer, who served as a High Seas Policy Advisor for the International Union for Conservation of Nature Global Marine and Polar Program. A lawyer by trade, Gjerde focused on ocean conservation throughout her career. She worked on the Global Ocean Biodiversity Initiative and won the 2018 Boat International Visionary Ocean Award.

Education and early career

Gjerde was born on August 24, 1957, in Walnut Creek, California.[2] She studied history at University of California, Los Angeles. She graduated summa cum laude in 1981.[3] She moved to the east coast and studied law at New York University, graduating Juris Doctor in 1984.[4][5] She worked on the use of space technology in conflict prevention as an intern at the United Nations.[6] She specialised in admiralty law at Lord Day & Lord.[4] She was not allowed to join the admiralty law social club, the Whitehall Club, as it did not accept women members.[6] During a scuba diving trip to Palau, Gjerde became interested in protecting the oceans.[3] She was awarded a two-year fellowship at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in 1988.[7] She evaluated the international protection that was given to Caribbean coral reefs.[8][9] This report made her realise that it was possible to force constructive change through analysis and negotiation.[6] She greatly admired Elisabeth Mann Borgese. She joined the University of Hull as a research fellow and lecturer.[6] She has represented the World Wide Fund for Nature at the International Maritime Organization since 1993.[6]

Career

From 2002, Gjerde served as High Seas Policy Advisor for the International Union for Conservation of Nature Global Marine and Polar Program.[3][10] At the International Union for Conservation of Nature Gjerde was responsible for helping communities and governments protect the environment.[11] In 2003, Gjerde was awarded a Pew Foundation fellowship in marine conservation to promote improved legal regimes for oceans that were beyond the jurisdiction of nations.[3][12] She was elected as New York University School of Law's alumna of the month in 2004.[3][6] She worked on ways to protect deep-sea coral ecosystems.[13] Gjerde delivered a TED talk, Making law on the high seas, in 2014.[14] Beginning in 2015, Gjerde was a member of the Cambridge Conservation Agenda for Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction and the EU project Managing Impacts of Deep Sea Resource Exploitation (MIDAS).[15][16] She was an adjunct professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, teaching the Masters program on International Environmental Policy.[17][5] She was interested in how law, science, technology and economics can be used to manage global oceans.[5] She was made an honorary fellow at the University of Edinburgh in 2016.[18] She actively participated in the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdictions negotiations at the United Nations and the negotiations on deep sea mining regulations at the International Seabed Authority.[19][20][21][22]

Gjerde delivered several keynote talks on ocean conservation.[23][24] She co-founded and helped to lead the Deep Ocean Stewardship Initiative, the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, the High Seas Alliance, the Global Ocean Biodiversity Initiative and the Sargasso Sea Project.[17][25]

Deep Sea Conservation Coalition

The Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, founded in 2004, work to address to issue of bottom trawling in high seas, which has harmful impacts on the environment. They look to reduce the greatest threats to life and safeguard the health of deep-sea ecosystems.[26]

Global Ocean Biodiversity Initiative

The Global Ocean Biodiversity Initiative is an international partnership founded in 2013 that supports conservation of biological diversity in the deep sea and open ocean.[10] They develop data, tools and methods to identify ocean areas in need of special care.[10] She supports this with the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation.[3] They found that female northern elephant seals swim halfway across the pacific to find areas to feed.[27] They identified where white sharks congregate in the northeastern Pacific.[27] She was involved with the 2018 celebrations for the ten-year anniversary of the initiatives.[28]

Sargasso Sea Alliance

The Sargasso Sea Alliance, which was founded in 2010 looks to protect the health and productivity of the Sargasso Sea. It looks to serve as a model for ways to achieve protective status for areas beyond national jurisdiction.[29] She published Lessons from the Sargasso Sea in 2016.[30] In 2016 the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization closed the Corner Rise Seamounts and New England Seamounts to bottom fishing.[30]

High Seas Alliance

The High Seas Alliance (founded 2011) is a partnership of organisation that conserve the high seas through international cooperation and governance.[31] They work with global leaders, non-governmental members and the International Union for Conservation of Nature.[32]

Deep Ocean Stewardship Initiative

The Deep-Ocean Stewardship Initiative, an organization founded 2013, use stake-holder workshops, publications and surveys to engage experts in law, policy, economics and conservation.[33] They work with national and global policymakers, as well as educators and civilians.[33]

Gjerde won the 2018 Boat International Media Visionary Ocean Award.[17][34]

Publications

Gjerde published in many journals including the Journal of Marine and Coastal Law,[35] the Ocean Yearbook,[36] and Science.[37]

Personal life and death

Gjerde was married to Adam de Sola Pool, who encouraged her during her academic career.[38] The couple had a son, Darius, who is part of the steering committee for the Ocean Stewardship Award along with Gjerde and de Sola Pool.[39][40]

Gjerde died in Boston of pancreatic cancer on December 26, 2025, at the age of 68.[40][41][42][43]

References

  1. ^ Butler, Rhett Ayers (December 26, 2025). "Kristina Gjerde, mother of the high seas, has died. She was 68". Rhett Ayers Butler. Retrieved January 1, 2026.
  2. ^ "Kristina Maria Gjerde". tributearchive.com. Retrieved December 30, 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "CMS Bio – Kristina Gjerde" (PDF). CMS IUCN. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 13, 2009.
  4. ^ a b "Kristina Gjerde". sargassoseacommission.org. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
  5. ^ a b c "Kristina Maria Gjerde". Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
  6. ^ a b c d e f "Alumnus/Alumna of the Month". law.nyu.edu. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
  7. ^ "Bio – Kristina Gjerde" (PDF). IUCN. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
  8. ^ Sandler, Deborah (1993). Protecting the Gulf of Aqaba: A Regional Environmental Challenge. Environmental Law Institute. ISBN 978-0-911937-46-6. OL 8318673M.
  9. ^ Davidson, Lynn; Gjerde, Kristina (1989). An evaluation of international protection offered to caribbean coral reefs and associated ecosystems. Greenpeace International.
  10. ^ a b c Jaymi Heimbuch (February 11, 2011). "Kristina Gjerde Explains How We Make Laws for Un-Owned Oceans (Interview)". TreeHugger. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
  11. ^ Gjerde, Kristina. "Kristina Gjerde". TED. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
  12. ^ "Kristina M. Gjerde, J.D." pewtrusts.org. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
  13. ^ "3rd International Symposium on Deep-Sea Corals". conference.ifas.ufl.edu. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
  14. ^ Gjerde, Kristina (November 19, 2010), Making law on the high seas, retrieved November 1, 2018
  15. ^ "A Conservation Agenda for Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ)". cambridgeconservation.org. September 17, 2015. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
  16. ^ "Pacific Telecommunications Council (PTC) – Program Participant". online.ptc.org. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
  17. ^ a b c "Congratulations to 2018 Visionary Ocean Award winner Kristina Gjerde". highseasalliance.org. June 6, 2018. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
  18. ^ "Dr Kristina Gjerde (IUCN Senior Policy Adviser): UN Negotiations on High Seas Biodiversity". iash.ed.ac.uk. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
  19. ^ Wright, Glen; Rochette, Julien; Gjerde, Kristina M.; Levin, Lisa A. (February 8, 2018). "Protect the neglected half of our blue planet". Nature. 554 (7691): 163–165. Bibcode:2018Natur.554..163W. doi:10.1038/d41586-018-01594-1. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 29420492.
  20. ^ Cuyvers, Luc; Berry, Whtiney; Kristina, Gjerde; Torsten, Thiele; Caroline, Wilhelm (June 9, 2018). Deep seabed mining: a rising environmental challenge (PDF). IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature. doi:10.2305/iucn.ch.2018.16.en. ISBN 978-2-8317-1921-4. S2CID 135184459.
  21. ^ Van Dover, C. L.; Ardron, J. A.; Escobar, E.; Gianni, M.; Gjerde, K. M.; Jaeckel, A.; Jones, D. O. B.; Levin, L. A.; Niner, H. J. (June 26, 2017). "Biodiversity loss from deep-sea mining". Nature Geoscience. 10 (7): 464–465. Bibcode:2017NatGe..10..464V. doi:10.1038/ngeo2983. ISSN 1752-0894. S2CID 134839522.
  22. ^ Dunn, Daniel C.; Van Dover, Cindy L.; Etter, Ron J.; Smith, Craig R.; Levin, Lisa A.; Morato, Telmo; Colaço, Ana; Dale, Andrew C.; Gebruk, Andrey V. (July 4, 2018). "A strategy for the conservation of biodiversity on mid-ocean ridges from deep-sea mining". Science Advances. 4 (7) eaar4313. Bibcode:2018SciA....4.4313D. doi:10.1126/sciadv.aar4313. ISSN 2375-2548. PMC 6031377. PMID 29978040.
  23. ^ The SDG Academy (July 3, 2017), OceanMooc | July 3 (Mon) 2017 | Kristina Gjerde and Lisa Levin, retrieved November 1, 2018
  24. ^ EarthWorldSolutions (November 27, 2012), Kristina Gjerde IUCN High Seas Policy Adviser, retrieved November 1, 2018
  25. ^ "2017 Our Ocean: Speakers". ourocean2017.org. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
  26. ^ "Overview – Deep Sea Conservation Coalition". Deep Sea Conservation Coalition. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
  27. ^ a b Ardron, Jeff; Dunn, Daniel; Corrigan, Colleen; Gjerde, Kristina M.; Halpin, Patrick; Rice, J. C. (Jake C.); Vanden Berghe, Edward; Vierros, Marjo (2009). Defining ecologically or biologically significant areas in the open oceans and deep seas: analysis, tools, resources and illustrations (PDF).
  28. ^ "GOBI marks its 10th anniversary at the World Conference on Marine Biodiversity". gobi.org. May 22, 2018. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
  29. ^ "Sargasso Sea". IUCN. February 24, 2016. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
  30. ^ a b Bulger, Faith; David Freestone. "Lessons from the Sargasso Sea". sargassoseacommission.org. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
  31. ^ "High Seas Alliance". asoc.org. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
  32. ^ "High Seas Alliance Homepage". highseasalliance.org. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
  33. ^ a b "Research project: Deep-Ocean Stewardship Initiative (DOSI)". southampton.ac.uk. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
  34. ^ Jason Warburg (May 11, 2018). "Environmental Policy Professor Kristina Gjerde Wins Visionary Award". Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
  35. ^ "Kristina Gjerde". Sargasso Sea Commission. Retrieved December 26, 2025.
  36. ^ "Kristina Gjerde". Schmidt Ocean Institute. Retrieved December 26, 2025.
  37. ^ Gjerde, Kristina; Harden-Davies, Harriet (2022). "High seas treaty within reach". Science. 377 (6612): 1241. Bibcode:2022Sci...377.1241G. doi:10.1126/science.ade8437. PMID 36108013. Retrieved December 26, 2025.
  38. ^ Gjerde, Kristina (January 2025). "Navigating the High Seas: Career Reflections and Lessons in Ocean Conservation from Kristina Gjerde". Sevenseas Media. No. 116. Retrieved December 26, 2025.
  39. ^ Seale, Nina (October 11, 2025). "New award launched for early-career marine conservationists". Synchronicity Earth. Retrieved December 26, 2025.
  40. ^ a b "Tributes To International Maritime Lawyer Kristina Gjerde". afloat.ie. Retrieved January 1, 2026.
  41. ^ Butler, Rhett Ayers (December 26, 2025). "Kristina Gjerde, defender of the deep ocean, has died". Mongabay. Retrieved December 26, 2025.
  42. ^ "Kristina Maria Gjerde obituary". Legacy.com. Archived from the original on January 8, 2026. Retrieved January 8, 2026.
  43. ^ Gabriel, Trip (January 17, 2026). "Kristina Gjerde, Advocate for Ocean Biodiversity, Dies at 68". The New York Times. Retrieved January 17, 2026.
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