Emily Darling

Background

About Emily Darling

Scientist | Director of Coral Reef Conservation at WCS | Co-Founder of MERMAID | Adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto Trained as a coral reef field biologist, I am happiest counting corals underwater with a SCUBA tank on my back and have won international awards for my science and research on climate change refugia. But saving coral reefs needs so much more than that. As the Director of Coral Reef Conservation at the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), I lead a small but mighty team on strategy, partnerships, fundraising, and impact for WCS's global coral reef portfolio in 16 countries. Focusing on impact, I led the development and implementation of a social-ecological systems approach for coral reefs (based on Nobel Prize winning Elinor Ostrom's work). To measure impact faster and better, I co-founded MERMAID (the Marine Ecological Research Management AID; datamermaid.org), the first online/offline web app to standardize coral reef survey information and accelerate data to decisions (with surveys in 29 countries from 1,100 users and 70+ organizations, and counting). With 15+ years of experience, I surf the necessary scales of conservation from community-led management with local partners who live on the frontlines of climate change, international policy advocacy, and strategic partnerships with Bloomberg Philanthropies (among others). As a conservation storyteller and underwater photographer, I love connecting people to hope for coral reefs and the ocean solutions that are needed for coral reefs, community resilience, and climate adaptation.