2024 Ocean Conservation Honors

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2024 Seattle Aquarium Ocean Conservation Honors: Recognizing Leaders Who Protect Our Ocean

Since 2004, the Seattle Aquarium has presented awards to extraordinary leaders who are working to protect the health of our marine environment for present and future generations. Our annual Ocean Conservation Honors event celebrates the honorees’ aspirations and impact, raises visibility for their important work, and offers them the opportunity to share their passion for our one ocean and a resilient future for all.

This year, we presented Rili Djohani with the Seattle Aquarium Sylvia Earle Medal and Dr. Christine Dudgeon with our Conservation Research Award.

From left to right: Seattle Aquarium President and CEO Bob Davidson, Seattle Aquarium Sylvia Earle Medalist Rili Djohani, Seattle Aquarium Board Chair Michael Guidon and Seattle Aquarium Chief Conservation Officer Erin Meyer, Ph.D.

Seattle Aquarium Sylvia Earle Medal

Rili Djohani

Co-founder and executive director, Coral Triangle Center

The Seattle Aquarium Sylvia Earle Medal honors an individual whose leadership and lifetime accomplishments reflect the mission of the Seattle Aquarium: Inspiring Conservation of Our Marine Environment.

Rili stated, “It’s such an honor to receive the Seattle Aquarium Sylvia Earle medal. Sylvia has been an inspiration and mentor to me and for many across the globe. A famous Sylvia quote is: ‘I have lots of heroes: anyone and everyone who does whatever they can to leave the natural world better than they found it.’”

Rili Djohani has worked for over 30 years to improve the management and financial sustainability of marine protected areas and reduce the use of unsustainable fishing practices in Southeast Asia. Among her many accomplishments, she co-founded the Coral Triangle Center (CTC)—a learning center of excellence on coastal and marine resources management based in Bali.

The center’s programs focus on strengthening local leadership and capacity through an integrated portfolio of MPA learning sites, customized training programs and learning networks, innovative outreach and communication programs, and facilitation of public-private partnerships in the Coral Triangle region. In Rili’s perspective we are all heroes; inspiring people to leave the natural world better than they found it is central to the mission and values of the Seattle Aquarium and the Coral Triangle Center.

Seattle Aquarium Conservation Research Award

Christine Dudgeon, Ph.D.

Research fellow, University of the Sunshine Coast/University of Queensland, Australia

The Seattle Aquarium Conservation Research award honors leaders and innovators in marine conservation research. Special consideration is given for researchers working on projects in the Salish Sea or Coral Triangle, who have a special connection to the Seattle Aquarium, and those with strong educational or science communication elements to their work.

The Seattle Aquarium is proud to be a founding member of ReShark, a first-of-its-kind global coalition working to restore threatened sharks and rays. The coalition’s inaugural project is StAR (Stegostoma tigrinum Augmentation and Recovery), which focuses on Indo-Pacific leopard sharks.

Dr. Dudgeon’s expertise and research spans from corals to whales; her work with sharks and rays has been instrumental in advancing the StAR project. She obtained her Ph.D. from the University of Queensland in 2009, focusing on the ecology of the Indo-Pacific leopard sharks in the first study to examine the species in the wild. She and her colleagues have expanded on this work to motivate research and conservation for the species internationally.

“The StAR project brings together work on animals in the wild with the expertise and shared passion of those who work with animals in human care. We have reached some very important milestones and I’m excited to work with our partners toward building a sustainable future.”—Christine Dudgeon, Ph.D.

She takes pride in being at the forefront of innovative, multidisciplinary projects that meld foundational research with translational applications with both a local and global lens. The Seattle Aquarium is honored to partner with Dr. Dudgeon in the important work to restore an endangered species to its home waters.

Congratulations to the 2024 Ocean Conservation Honors award recipients! It’s a pleasure and privilege to celebrate your accomplishments and contributions to the protection of our one ocean.