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Advisory Group

The PISCES project is guided by an advisory group consisting of experts in marine stakeholder engagement, marine policy, climate change and the ecosystem-based approach to management. This group provides guidance and support for stakeholders by reviewing project outputs, assisting in the planning and execution of workshops and convenings, and communicating findings and lessons learned of the project to the broader conservation community.

Fanny Douvere, Ph.D., UNESCO

Fanny Douvere is Coordinator of the World Heritage Marine Programme at the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO's) World Heritage Centre. Previously, she was Co-principal Investigator of the Ecosystem-based Marine Spatial Planning Initiative at UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, initiated in 2006 with Charles Ehler. The central focus of Douvere's work was to help move marine spatial planning beyond the conceptual level by developing a comprehensive, operational, step-by-step approach for its development and implementation. She organized and co-chaired the first international workshop on marine spatial planning at UNESCO in 2006, co-edited the first peer-reviewed special issue of Marine Policy on marine spatial planning in 2008 and published a UNESCO guide to ecosystem-based, marine spatial planning in 2009. Douvere has been a consultant to WWF-Sweden, the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), IUCN–the World Conservation Union, The Nature Conservancy, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Prior to her work at UNESCO, she was one of the coordinators of a project that developed a spatial plan for the Belgian part of the North Sea—one of the first integrated marine planning efforts in the world. She has degrees in international relations and anthropology and comparative cultures.

David Johnston, Executive Secretary, OSPAR Commission

David Johnston is Executive Secretary to the OSPAR Commission and is also Emeritus Professor of Coastal Management at Southampton Solent University. Research projects include a successful tri-governmental feasibility study to evaluate the potential of the Wadden Sea as a Particularly Sensitive Sea Area; Coastlearn, an EU project developing web-based materials for distance learning in coastal zone management; and New Epoc, an Interreg IIIc project sharing good practice between 10 European partner ports in order to address future challenges. Johnston publishes widely and presents regularly at both national and international conferences. Projects have taken him to coastal locations throughout Europe, California, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Canada and Singapore. Recent journal papers have been produced for the Journal of Coastal Conservation, Marine Policy and the Journal of Sustainable Tourism. Johnston's most recent book contribution comprises a jointly authored chapter in "Ocean Yearbook 20," published by the International Ocean Institute in 2006.

Laurence Mee, Scottish Association for Marine Science

Mee conducts multidisciplinary research into coupled social and ecological systems, ways of assessing the state of the marine environment and the interface between science and policy. Most of his work is on a regional sea scale, particularly Europe's seas. He is a leading specialist on the Black Sea and has also conducted research in the Pacific and Caribbean. Mee's current research focuses on the science that underpins implementation of marine policy at the European, UK and Scottish levels. Laurence maintains a high level of research activity. He coordinates a €5.74M EU-funded project, Knowledge-based Management of Europe's Seas (KnowSeas), which involves 31 partners from 15 countries across Europe. KnowSeas is providing the multidisciplinary research to underpin the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive. Mee has published more than 73 peer-reviewed articles covering topics in natural and social science.

Diana Pound, Director and Senior Facilitator, Dialogue Matters

Diana Pound has many years experience of project managing, designing, facilitating and advising on stakeholder dialogue. She set up Dialogue Matters in October 2000. Prior to this she worked for a number of environmental organizations. She managed a number of projects, including a stakeholder dialogue process to build consensus over the contents of a European marine site management scheme in a highly conflicted situation in Thanet, Kent. Her success with this project convinced her that the way decisions are made makes a difference to the outcome and so she trained in the necessary skills to design and facilitate stakeholder dialogue. She has an ongoing commitment is to help people live more sustainably within their environment to the benefit of people and places. Diana holds a B.Sc. in Environmental Science and a M.Sc. in Landscape Ecology.

Sian Prior, Consultant

Prior is a marine scientist with a focus on interpretation of marine science for marine policy development. She has developed policy and undertaken advocacy for the maritime industries and environmental groups for more than 20 years, including 15 years leading marine programs with WWF. She currently advises on marine spatial planning and marine protected areas in the European and Polar regions and on polar shipping policy.

David Reid, Irish Marine Institute

Dave Reid is a graduate in marine biology from Liverpool (Port Erin) and gained a Ph.D. in Maine biological rhythms at Bangor University in 1985. He then worked in Bangor on intertidal crustacean behavior and physiology until 1989. He then moved to the Marine Laboratory in Aberdeen, where he joined the Fisheries Management Team. In Aberdeen he worked in a wide range of fisheries issues, in particular, fishery surveys, ecosystem interactions with fisheries, fishing capacity and effort, and gear technology. From 1997 he worked in these fields as a research group leader. In 2009 he moved to the Marine Institute in Galway, where he is now Principle Investigator on the Beaufort Ecosystem Approach to Fishery Management Project. This project is a collaboration between the Marine Institute, University College Cork and Queen's University Belfast, and is a seven-year project funded by the Irish government. Reid has had an extensive role in International Council for Exploration of the Sea during the last 20 years: he has chaired numerous expert groups as well as the Living Resource Committee, and he was a member of the Consultative Committee and the Advisory Committee on Fishery Management.

Simon Walmsley, WWF–International

Simon has a Ph.D. in marine biomonitoring and ecotoxicology from Hull University. During his 11 years at WWF, he has been head of the Toxics Programme, seconded to DEFRA, North East Atlantic Programme Manager and Head of WWF–UK Marine Programme. Since November 2009 he has been advising the WWF Network on Global Ocean Governance issues in his new role as Marine Manager for WWF International.