Is There an Environmental Dr in the House? - A Conversation with Environmental Pioneers Drs Iain Kerr and Susana Hancock

Click here to watch the video archive of this event.

Susana Hancock and Iain Kerr brought us a hopeful message about our ability to preserve our ocean environment, but cautioned it will take all of us playing our part to reverse the impact of climate change.

Susana Hancock is an internationally recognized climate scientist and is currently leading a program working directly with global leaders to understand the direct risks of a changing climate around the world. Susana most recently participated in The Jubilee Expedition to the Arctic to tell the story of the melting polar region through the lens of adventure. Susana was raised in Freeport, Maine, but travels the globe in pursuit of her environmental passions. She is a graduate of Connecticut College and has two Masters’ in Anthropology and Linguistics and a PhD in Anthropology from the University of Oxford. She is an accomplished rower and speaks six languages – Susana is a true modern polymath.

Iain Kerr began his career thirty years ago at Ocean Alliance as a volunteer and now leads the organization. Based in Gloucester, Massachusetts, Ocean Alliance’s reach is global and their mission is to protect whales and their ocean environment through research, scientific collaboration, public education, and the arts. The alliance works with its scientific partners to advise educators and policy makers on wise stewardship of the ocean. Iain believes that the environmental problems we face will not be solved through traditional methods alone, so he has pioneered the use of drones – so-called SnotBots(R) - in whale research and conservation. Iain has a Bachelor of Education Degree from the University of London and a D.H.L. from the University of Southern Maine.

Don Perkins has served as Gulf of Maine Research Institute’s President/CEO since 1995. GMRI is a strategic science, education, and community institution that serves the Gulf of Maine bioregion but with impact far beyond its shores. GMRI is the research institution that identified the Gulf of Maine as one of the fastest warming ocean regions worldwide; they are working to assist coast communities to anticipate and adapt to this existential challenge.  Don is dedicated to building creative, strategic organizations, traditional or virtual, that contribute to solving intractable problems and creating new opportunities in marine conservation, STEM literacy, and common property governance and management. Don holds a B.A. in Anthropology from Dartmouth College and an M.B.A. from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.