In the last twenty years, Julie has focused her work in marine research and conservation off the coast of Belize. Today, she manages the Belize Oceans Program aligning science, technology, policy, finance and livelihoods into a comprehensive fisheries management and aquaculture program.

Julie joined the Conservancy in 2006 where her focus was primarily as a marine program manager, building research and management capacity of local partners. Her areas of work now include building strategies on how to best align biophysical, social and economic factors to achieve healthy and sustainable fisheries. All of Julie’s conservation work is based on consultation where she has built a long process for cultivation and building consensus amongst fishers, resource users and authorities. Her current emphasis is to create successful pilots for replication across multiple geographies and to achieve impact at scale to increase fisheries sustainability, productivity and improve fisher-folk livelihoods.

Julie has a degree in Biology from the University of South Florida, is fluent in English, Spanish and Creole and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Belize Audubon Society, Belize’s oldest and largest conservation NGO.