Speakers
Alexia Branch
U.S. Consulate Auckland
Alexia is a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State. She is currently serving as the Public Affairs Officer at U.S. Consulate Auckland. Previous assignments include Public Diplomacy tours in Washington, DC, Jakarta, Indonesia, Cairo, Egypt, and she served as a consular officer in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Prior to joining the State Department, Alexia worked as a management-side employment law attorney in northern California. She received a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and in Psychology from Lake Forest College, followed by a JD and a Master’s of Arts in Public Policy from Duke University. She is originally from St. Louis, Missouri and is married with two children.
Rahul Chand
IUCN Oceania - Fiji
Rahul is an esteemed environmental specialist renowned for his expertise in biodiversity conservation, planning, and policy implementation. With over 15 years of distinguished service across governmental and non-governmental organizations, Rahul has significantly contributed to shaping and executing national and regional biodiversity strategies and action plans. Rahul’s career highlights include his pivotal role as the Programme Coordinator for Fiji’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans (NBSAP), supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). His leadership extended to managing Fiji’s Global Environment Facility (GEF) projects, focusing on biodiversity conservation, climate change adaptation, and combating land degradation. A seasoned negotiator and advocate, Rahul represented Fiji in numerous high-level international forums, including the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and various Conference of the Parties (COP) meetings under the Convention on Biological Diversity. His contributions were instrumental in advancing global conservation goals. Rahul’s expertise spans capacity building in Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) mechanisms under the Nagoya Protocol, where he facilitated workshops and consultations across the Pacific region.
Olivier Chassot
Senior Programme Officer for Protected, Conserved and Heritage Areas. IUCN-Asia
Dr Olivier Chassot is the Senior Programme Officer for Protected, Conserved and Heritage Areas, at the IUCN-Asia Regional Office. He was a Steering Committee member of the World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA-IUCN). In his career, Olivier Chassot has been the CEO of MigraMar (2017-2018) and the Tropical Science Center (Costa Rica, 2012-2014), Director of Science at the Tropical Science Center, and Director of the Latin American School for Protected Areas. He was President of the Latin American and Caribbean Section of the Society for Conservation Biology (SCB).
Over almost two decades, Olivier has developed an extensive knowledge in natural resources management, along with wide experience in designing, fundraising and implementing conservation biology programs, project planning, implementation and monitoring. His areas of expertise include biodiversity, connectivity conservation, transboundary conservation, protected and conserved areas, sustainable development, wildlife, governance and ecosystem conservation. He has authored or co-authored 150 publications. A Swiss and Costa Rican citizen, Olivier has worked and implemented projects in Central America and Asia. He is a passionate conservation practitioner compromised with high standards of excellence. Olivier is fluent in French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, with limited working proficiency in German and Indonesian, and is currently learning Thai.
Easter Chu Shing
Deputy Director General of the Secretariat of the Pacific
Regional Environment Programme (SPREP). Elected in 2020, Easter is the first ever female Deputy Director General for SPREP. Ms Chu Shing has successfully led several milestone achievements across the Pacific island’s region. She was at the helm of the 9th Pacific Islands Conference on Nature Conservation and Protected Areas hosted in Fiji in 2013.
Ms Chu Shing has also played a crucial role on the SPREP delegation leading coordination support for Pacific Island Members at the Conferences of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity.
Prior to joining SPREP, Ms. Chu Shing had worked extensively in the biodiversity and conservation areas with the Government of Samoa and the UNDP Multi-country office in Apia.
Currently, Ms. Chu Shing is the SPREP Senior Leadership Team - Gender Champion and is the co-chair of the SPREP Gender Equality, Inclusion, and Mainstreaming Group.
Dan Hikuroa
Ngāti Maniapoto, Waikato-Tainui, Ngaati Whanaunga, Pākehā
Dan is a father, surfer, paddle-boarder, gardener, loves the taiao and is an Associate Professor in Māori Studies, Waipapa Taumata Rau-University of Auckland. Dan is an established world expert on weaving indigenous knowledge and science to realise the dreams of the communities he works with. Dan has been spearheading alternative ways of assessing sustainability, including braiding indigenous knowledge and epistemologies into policies, assessment frameworks and decision-support tools. Dan is UNESCO New Zealand Commissioner for Culture, member of Pou Herenga, Māori Advisory to the Climate Change Commission, has key roles within New Zealand’s Centres of Research Excellence, National Science Challenges, advises national and regional government, communities and philanthropic trusts and is a member of several significant international research teams. He is member of Te Putahi o Putaiao and Te Ao Marama Faculty Research Centres.
Masha Kalinina
Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy
Masha Kalinina works on a crosscutting team supporting diverse initiatives across Pew’s environment portfolio, primarily focused on designing and executing international political strategies to deliver campaign objectives. Between 2018 and 2022, she supported Pew’s efforts to secure a new 10-year global biodiversity framework under the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity. The framework, which was successfully adopted on Dec. 19, 2022, will help protect and conserve at least 30% of the planet’s terrestrial, freshwater, and marine areas by 2030.
Jessie Nicholson
National Environment Service, Cook Islands
Jessie Nicholson is from the islands of Rarotonga and Mangaia in the Cook Islands🇨🇰.
Through her job at the National Environment Service, she was involved in the marine OECM process for the Cook Islands' first site, the Takitumu Conservation Area.
Having also been the first site for the Pacific Islands, it was a bit challenging as they had to navigate our way through the process, unable to look to other Pacific nations' for guidance.
She is one of the Young Pacific Leaders attending Tiaki Moana Summit & Workshop.
Marguerite Taiarui
Rahui Center. French Polynesia
Marguerite was born and raised in Tahiti (French Polynesia) and has always been passionate about the marine environment. Her deep connection to the ocean led her to pursue studies in marine sciences within the Pacific region, earning degrees in New Zealand and Australia between 2012 and 2016.
During her MSc research, she became deeply aware of the importance and complexity of small-scale fisheries in French Polynesia. This realisation fueled her commitment to understanding and improving the management of lagoon fisheries in her home country. From 2019 to 2021, she worked for the Direction of Marine Resources of French Polynesia, where she helped establishing restricted fishing areas through a participatory approach with local communities.
Driven by the need for innovative, community-centered solutions, Marguerite embarked on a PhD to develop tools and strategies for more effective coral reef fisheries management in French Polynesia and the Pacific. Her research is conducted in collaboration with the Rāhui Center, which supports local communities in the creation, monitoring, and adaptive management of marine managed areas across the region.
Leituala Kuiniselani Toelupe Tago
Regional Director for Oceania Regional Office - IUCN
Leituala is a regional public servant with over 25 years of professional experience in the social development sector. She currently serves as the Regional Director for Oceania at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). As the Regional Director for Polynesia, she established the Pacific Community - SPC’s first Polynesia Regional Office in Tonga. Leituala also led SPC’s work on gender equality, youth development and culture across the Pacific, as the Director for Social Development. Prior to joining SPC, she was the Chief Executive Officer for the Ministry of Women, Community and Social Development (MWCSD) in Samoa, leading strategic policy and programming on gender equality and women’s empowerment; youth development; child protection; promoting the rights of persons with disability and community development and village governance. Leituala is a graduate of the University of New South Wales (Australia) and Massey University (New Zealand) and is currently a PhD Candidate at the Australian National University’s Department of Pacific Affairs.
Alifereti Tawake
LMMA Network
Alifereti has a long history with LMMA as co-founder of the Fiji LMMA network and the wider regional network. Alifereti has held numerous positions in the region as a consultant and researcher with the University of the South Pacific, Foundations of Success (USA), Australia's leading science organisation CSIRO, the United Nations University Institute for Advanced Studies and the Coral Reef Initiative for the South Pacific (CRISP). Dr Alifereti is currently studying for a PhD in Earth and Environmental Sciences at James Cook University.
Angelo Villagomez
Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress
Angelo is a dedicated ocean advocate with a focus on Indigenous-led conservation and ocean justice. As a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, Angelo leverages his unique background, combining Indigenous knowledge and Western scientific methods, to address critical environmental challenges such as habitat loss, overfishing, and climate colonialism. Angelo serves on several advisory boards and is the ocean co-lead for the America the Beautiful for All Coalition.
Angelo played a pivotal role in the designation and expansion of national marine monuments in the Pacific Islands and was a key policy expert on global shark conservation. His efforts contributed to securing an international agreement to protect at least 30% of the ocean in fully to highly protected marine areas.
Angelo holds bachelor’s degrees in biology from the University of Richmond and environmental policy from Rollins College. He is passionate about scuba diving in warm tropical waters and is a self-proclaimed mediocre ukulele player.
Sheridan Waitai
Ngati Kuri
Sheridan is leading the uplift of Ngāti Kuri tikanga and knowledge bases, empowering future generations to be knowledgeable, deeply grounded in practice and confident when working in the environment. She has held executive and senior leadership roles within the public sector, iwi and community for the past 20 years and is a highly motivated results-driven inspiring leader and influencer, with proven expertise in strategic planning and relationships.
She can critically analyse and evaluate information to inform decision making and is an articulate, informed communicator that can engage with multiple stakeholders. She has comprehensive experience with National and International NGO’s, Community and Government agencies.
‘Aulani Wilhelm
CEO, Nia Tero
‘Aulani Wilhelm is Kanaka ‘Ōiwi (Native Hawaiian), born and raised in Hawaiʻi. ʻAulani is the Chief Executive Officer at Nia Tero, an organization focused solely on Indigenous guardianship and the role Indigenous Peoples have played and can continue to play – in protecting lands, waters, and ocean areas as antidotes to the global climate crisis and biodiversity loss. She joined Nia Tero in October 2023 after serving as the Assistant Director for Ocean Conservation, Climate and Equity at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
‘Aulani previously served as the Senior Vice President for Oceans at Conservation International where she co-led the Blue Nature Alliance, a global partnership to catalyze the conservation of 18 million km2 of ocean. ‘Aulani led the establishment of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument and World Heritage Site and co-founded Big Ocean, a network of the world’s largest marine managed areas. Prior, she was director of ocean initiatives for NOAA’s Office of Marine Sanctuaries, and a social innovation fellow at Stanford University.
‘Aulani is a Mellon Distinguished Scholar at Arizona State University’s Center for Imagination at the Borderlands. She holds a MS degree from Stanford University and a BA degree from the University of Southern California.
Bryant J Zebedy
MIMRA and YPL
Protected Areas Network Officer - Marshall Islands Marine resources Authority
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