Behind the Scenes at the International Whaling Commission (IWC)

Cost: $5 Donation goes toward Student Research Grants

Melanie Smith: Behind the scenes at the IWC

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The International Whaling Commission (IWC) is the global intergovernmental body charged with the conservation of whales and the management of whaling. It is set up under the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling signed in 1946.

Join Melanie Smith, SF Bay ACS Vice President and ACS National Representative to the IWC this year, for an exclusive look into IWC65. Melanie will share what went on at the IWC and what happened behind the scenes. She will explore key countries and their positions, as well as what can be done to move forward with conservation of whales, not whaling.

Melanie will also lead a discussion of what we can do here at home to improve dialogue for the next IWC meeting.

Biography:

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Melanie Smith is the Vice President of the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of the American Cetacean Society. She graduated from Oregon State University with a degree in Fisheries and Wildlife Science, with specialization in research and conservation. Her work with SF Bay ACS includes educational outreach in schools and at public events, project management and instruction design for the naturalist class, and representing ACS national at the International Whaling Commission in September, 2014.

Outside of ACS, she volunteers with the National Park Service to monitor harbor seal populations, is a science docent at Seymour Center Marine Discovery Lab, and is a volunteer research assistant with a PhD student at UC Santa Cruz, researching mussels.