Kathryn Mengerink, PhD
Executive Director
Waitt Institute
Nominated Aminath Shauna (2022)
Nominated Yolanda Joab Mori (2021)
Dr. Kathryn Mengerink leads a team of ocean experts in developing and implementing marine spatial planning. She brings both her PhD in marine biology and law degree to bear in undertaking this effort. When not at the La Jolla office, you can typically find Kathryn at one of the Waitt Institute project sites around the world, either in a meeting or in the water. Working globally, the Waitt Institute, a San Diego-based non-profit, works in partnership with Governments to achieve marine protection and blue economy growth through marine spatial planning.
From 2006 -2016 Kathryn served as Director of the Ocean Program at the Environmental Law Institute. Under her leadership, the Ocean Program launched law and policy projects related to regional ocean management, coastal zoning, fisheries management and enforcement, aquaculture, ocean and coastal restoration, offshore energy development, marine protection, Alaska Natives rights and ocean management, environmental DNA, deep seabed mining and more. From 2007-2016, Kathryn served as a Lecturer Scripps Institution of Oceanography, where she taught ocean law and policy and served as an advisor to the Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation. She holds a B.S. in Zoology (Texas A&M University), Ph.D. in Marine Biology from SIO (UC San Diego) and a J.D. with a certificate in Environmental Law from University of California, Berkeley.