Julia Lawson
Julia’s PhD research interests center around sustainable fisheries management and international environmental policy. Julia completed her BS at Dalhousie University, during which she interned at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences and conducted her field-based thesis research on coral reef reproduction and recruitment. She holds an MS from the University of British Columbia Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries where she focused on (a) on filling critical life history gaps for three seahorse species that are common in international trade, and (b) developing a global estimate of the number of seahorses taken annually in bycatch. Julia conducted her field research in peninsular Malaysia in collaboration with researchers from the University of Malaya. Following the completion of her MS, Julia worked under the supervision of Dr Nicholas Dulvy as the Programme Officer for the IUCN Species Survival Commission Shark Specialist Group. She is responsible for developing conservation strategies (i.e. for devil and manta rays), coordinating global IUCN Red List assessments for sharks, rays, and chimaeras (i.e. for species endemic to the North East Pacific ocean), and was part of the IUCN delegation attending the CITES Conference of the Parties in South Africa, 2016.