Geoff Shester

GEOFF SHESTER is currently California Campaign Director with the non-profit organization, Oceana, and he is based in Monterey. He work involves advocacy and marine policy, and he works with state and fishery management bodies to try to protect ocean habitat and reduce by-catch in fisheries.

Geoff was born in Santa Monica, California and grew up in Carlsbad, CA. He came to Santa Cruz on the north edge of Monterey Bay to go to school. He studied Environmental Studies and biology, science, and policy at the University of California at Santa Cruz (UCSC). After graduating, Geoff started working at Oceana in Alaska in 2002, engaging in policy efforts to try to protect seafloor habitats from overfishing, and protecting some coral reefs that were recently discovered there.

After his Alaskan stint, Geoff decided to go back to school to get additional tools to be more effective. He knew that Stanford had a marine lab in Monterey and his wife was there. He enrolled in Stanford’s PhD program, where he studied marine biology, population models, ecology, and the human dimension in sociology. His focus was and is on maintaining fisheries while protecting habitats.