Dr. Emily Darling

Director, Coral Conservation

Dr. Emily Darling leads WCS's global coral reef conservation and science programs connecting conservation impact across the Western Indian Ocean, Indonesia, Melanesia and the Caribbean.

Emily’s research investigates how tropical coral reefs are changing in the face of our climate crisis and the role of climate refuges and local community management in global conservation.

Trained as a field biologist, she is a certified scientific diver and has published 60+ publications in leading scientific journals, including Science, Nature, Ecology Letters, and Conservation Letters and received international awards for her research and science communication. She is also an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Toronto.

Inspired by collaboration, Emily is a co-founder of the innovative field-ready technology platform MERMAID for coral reef monitoring, developed WCS’s global monitoring framework ‘MACMON’ based on Nobel Prize winner Elinor Ostrom’s work, and is a co-PI of the Coastal Outcomes working group through the Science for Nature and People Partnership.

In addition to being a leading coral reef scientist, she is also a passionate communicator and has been featured on National Geographic, PBS Nature, CNN International and Forbes International.

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