Conservation Science

Senior Marine Scientist

Areas of Expertise: Coral reef ecology

Helen E. Fox
© WWF

Dr. Helen E. Fox is a Senior Marine Scientist with World Wildlife Fund’s Conservation Science Program, providing technical and scientific support to the marine places where WWF works, with particular focus on Indonesia and the Coral Triangle. She is also conducting interdisciplinary research to examine links between marine protected areas (MPAs), sustainable fishing, and livelihoods in order to learn how to design MPAs to deliver benefits to people as well as biodiversity. Helen joined WWF-US in 2004, following her TNC/D.H. Smith Conservation Research Fellowship at the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, during which time she explored how connectivity could influence marine reserve design. She received her Ph.D. in Integrative Biology from UC Berkeley in 2002, investigating coral reef recovery and rehabilitation options from blast fishing in Indonesia. Her previous grant funding includes a Fulbright Award and multiple NSF grants. Helen’s research on reef rehabilitation, as well as marine and interdisciplinary conservation, has been widely published. Helen has worked as a naturalist and snorkel and dive guide and conducted marine conservation research projects in Indonesia, Australia, Belize, the Solomon Islands, and the U.S. She is a certified NAUI SCUBA instructor, has logged nearly 1,000 research dives to date, and once lived underwater for 10 days at the National Underwater Research Center Aquarius facility.

Email: helen.fox@wwfus.org