International Cooperation in Antarctica: protecting the world’s most intact ocean in the Ross Sea

Cassandra Brooks, University of Colorado Boulder

Dr. Brooks, Assistant Prof., Environmental Studies at CU Boulder, works at the intersection of marine science, environmental policy and public outreach to promote conservation solutions.

She draws on a diversity of disciplines including marine science, environmental policy, and science communication to study and seek solutions to pressing environmental problems.  Prior to joining CU Boulder, she completed a PhD at Stanford University, studying international ocean policy, with a focus on marine protection in the Antarctic. Her research helped drive the adoption of the world’s largest marine protected area in the Ross Sea, Antarctica – one of healthiest and most productive marine ecosystems left on Earth. In 2015, she was awarded a Switzer Fellowship in Environmental Leadership.In the last 20 years, Cassandra’s drive to understand and contribute to environmental governance has taken her all over the world, working in different capacities, including as a federal fisheries observer on New England groundfish boats.

Photo by John B. Weller