Sarah Fowler

Research

Sarah Fowler is currently the principal scientist of the Save Our Seas Foundation in Geneva, Switzerland and vice chair for international treaties at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Fowler used her Pew fellowship to build on the international shark conservation and management policy gains of 2004. That year, the 59th session of the United Nations General Assembly repeated calls for member states and fisheries management organizations to improve shark fisheries management. Notably, the 13th Conference of Parties to CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) added the great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) to protected status under Appendix II. Also, the World Conservation Congress of the International Union for Conservation of Nature adopted a motion calling for an international ban on the unsustainable practice of shark finning, a stronger approach than has so far been acceptable at meetings of the U.N. General Assembly. Through her fellowship, Fowler worked to overcome the traditional divisions between fisheries and biodiversity managers—through advocacy, capacity-building, and documentation. As a result, she was able to work constructively with relevant parties to encourage both decision-makers and managers to adopt a new paradigm for national and multilateral marine resource management. To learn more about Fowler, visit her bio online. https://www.sharktrust.org/faqs/sarah-fowler-obe