Amanda Leland
Amanda Leland is Environmental Defense Fund's National Policy Director for Oceans. She oversees a team of advocates in DC, CA, and FL, and leads all of EDF's federal ocean initiatives, including sustainable fisheries, habitat conservation, and ocean funding. She focuses on achieving ocean policies that are well-grounded in science and economics, and she builds support among diverse ocean stakeholders, policy-makers, and others for shared strategies for enhancing ocean stewardship. One of her major recent successes was her instrumental role in securing the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, which protects some of the most pristine corals reefs in one of the largest protected areas in the world. Amanda has a Master's in Marine Biology from the University of Maine, where she studied sea urchin ecology and engaged fishermen in her research. She was previously the Ocean Policy Director for Ocean Policy Project, a coalition initiative of Environmental Defense Fund, Natural Resources Defense Council, and Ocean Conservancy (2004-2005). Before that, she was a Sea Grant Marine Policy Fellow for U.S. Representative Sam Farr (2003). The picture with crab and urchin was taken when Amanda was doing her master's research in Maine.
