Tanya started at GRID-Arendal in early 2014 as a Project Manager for Marine Ecosystem Services projects. Her core areas of work include projects on blue carbon, blue economy, and conservation finance, as well as developing other ecosystem service projects as the opportunity arises. She has over 10 years of experience in marine conservation in both academic and NGO environments on both the east and west coasts of Canada, with a focus on deep water coral, marine spatial planning and blue carbon projects.

Carmen is a research assistant at the Marine Science Centre in Faro, Portugal. She is an experienced marine ecologist focusing on seagrass ecosystems, investigating their provision of ecosystem services, including carbon sequestration, their functioning and their response to environmental impacts, and their trends over time. Her research purpose and motivation is to advance ecological knowledge of seagrasses to support science-based management, promote their conservation and inform national and international environmental policy. In 2019, she led the first assessment of seagrass trends in Europe and she is currently involved in the first national assessment of blue carbon storage and sequestration in the seagrasses and salt marshes of Portugal.

Paul Carnell has been a research fellow at Deakin University’s Blue Carbon Lab (BCL) for over seven years. Paul is a marine scientist whose research aims to best inform restoration of the environment by valuing the ecosystem services provided to humanity. Paul works across all coastal ecosystems from kelp forests to seagrass, saltmarsh and mangroves. With an ecological underpinning, he has worked on cost-benefit analyses of coastal management actions by quantifying the blue carbon capacity of coastal systems, but also how they contribute to fisheries, protect our shorelines and contribute to recreation and tourism.

Stacey Trevathan-Tackett has been a research fellow at Deakin University’s Blue Carbon Lab (BCL) for over seven years. Stacey is a marine scientist whose research interests span from seagrass disease and microbiomes to blue carbon. Her research applies biogeochemical and microbiological techniques to improve the fundamental understanding of carbon cycling and microbial ecology in coastal ecosystems in the context of global climate change and ecosystem health and restoration.

Dr. Lina Mtwana Nordlund’s research interest is in connecting nature and human wellbeing. She works with sustainable development of the coastal zone and uses an inter- and transdisciplinary research approach to gain a more holistic understanding. She specializes in seagrass ecosystems and associated social-ecological systems, specifically fisheries and ecosystem services. Lina is also the Director of the Indo-Pacific Seagrass Network.

Abu Hena Mustafa Kamal currently works at the Faculty of Fisheries and Food Science, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu. Abu Hena does research in Aquaculture and Ecology. His current research project focuses on linking mangrove and seagrass ecosystems with community well-being, life, and livelihoods. He does have 2 decades of experience working on seagrass and its ecosystems in Asian region specially in Malaysia and Bangladesh.