Renowned Coral Reef Biologist Joins Coral Reef Alliance Board

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Dr. Nancy Knowlton Selected to Help Lead CORAL's Conservation Efforts

San Francisco, CA – June 17, 2010 − The Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL) today announced that Dr. Nancy Knowlton, Sant Chair for Marine Science at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History and adjunct professor at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, has been selected to serve on CORAL's Board of Directors.

"We are honored to have Dr. Knowlton join us in our mission to unite communities to save coral reefs," said Brian Huse, Executive Director of CORAL. "As a key contributor to several well-respected marine research institutions, she is an ideal leader to help influence and impact CORAL's efforts to build effective marine protected areas in coral reef destinations around the world while elevating public awareness of the urgency surrounding coral reef decline."

Dr. Knowlton's research centers on the ecology, evolution, and conservation of coral reef organisms. She was the Founding Director of the Scripps Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation, and is also a Staff Scientist Emeritus with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. She chairs the editorial board of the Smithsonian's Ocean Portal web project and the synthesis panel of the World Bank's Coral Reef Targeted Research project. She also co-leads the Census of Marine Life's coral reef initiative, which focuses on documenting the almost unimaginable biodiversity that coral reefs shelter.

"I am thrilled to be joining the board of the Coral Reef Alliance because of my enthusiasm for their core goal of linking reef health to community health," said Dr. Knowlton. "I look forward to working with CORAL to help bring their successful strategies to reefs and the people that depend on them around the world."

Dr. Knowlton holds a B.A. from Harvard University and a Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley. She is the author of over fifty peer-reviewed scientific journal research articles and the soon-to-appear book Citizens of the Sea. Her work has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Geographic Society, and the Smithsonian Institution. She presently serves on the National Geographic Society's Committee on Research and Exploration, the Board of Directors of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the editorial board of the Annual Review of Marine Science. She is an Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellow and the recipient of the Peter Benchley Award for Science.

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About the Coral Reef Alliance
The Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL) unites communities to save coral reefs. We provide tools, education, and inspiration to residents of coral reef destinations to support local projects that benefit both reefs and people. Originally founded in 1994 to galvanize the dive community for conservation, CORAL has grown from a small, grassroots alliance into the only international nonprofit organization that works exclusively to protect our planet's coral reefs. Visit www.coral.org or call1-888-CORAL-REEF.

Contact: Susan Wolf, (415) 834 - 0900 x 319, swolf (at) coral.org