Sarah Hameed

Sarah Hameed is Blue Parks Director and Senior Scientist at Marine Conservation Institute, where her work focuses on accelerating effective ocean conservation to protect marine biodiversity worldwide.

Sarah leads the Blue Parks initiative — setting a global science-based standard for ocean protection, celebrating conservation successes, and supporting communities in achieving high-quality marine protected areas. She collaborates with governments, scientists, protected area managers, community leaders, funders, and story-tellers around the world in efforts contributing to a shared goal of protecting at least 30% of the global ocean.

Investigating marine population connectivity along the coast of California, Sarah earned her doctoral degree in Marine Ecology with a certificate in Conservation Management from the University of California, Davis. She is a Switzer Environmental Fellow and has served on the IUCN’s World Commission on Protected Areas, Executive Committee for World Surf Reserves, Advisory Council for Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary, Board of Directors for Cordell Marine Sanctuary Foundation, and Science Advisory Committee to Ocean Grants.

In her free time, she can be found surfing the chilly waves of Northern California with her family.