Conservation Firsthand
Travel
WWF Experts
Katherine Bostick
Senior Program Officer, Aquaculture Program
Education
- MS: Earth Systems, Stanford University
- BS: Earth Systems, with a minor in Spanish, Stanford University
Areas of Expertise
- Working with multi-stakeholder groups to build consensus about aquaculture certification programs
- Identifying and minimizing the social and environmental impacts of aquaculture, especially salmon farming
- Environmental economics
- Agro-forestry, soil conservation and citrus/mango grafting
"I've always been interested in the balance between society's need for food and environmental protection. Sustainable aquaculture is one of the best ways to make this happen."
About Katherine Bostick:
In 2004, WWF kicked off a series of roundtable discussions – called Aquaculture Dialogues – to develop global standards for 12 aquaculture products. Katherine’s technical expertise in aquaculture issues, experience working with farmers while in the Peace Corps, and interest in developing an effective consensus building process made her an ideal leader for this new initiative.
The program has a full team of its own now, giving Katherine time to focus on the issue she is most passionate about – salmon farming. Almost two-thirds of the salmon eaten throughout the world comes from farms, mainly in Norway and Chile. Through the Salmon Aquaculture Dialogue, Katherine is helping to create global standards for responsible salmon farming. She and the Dialogue participants – which include the world’s leading salmon producers, NGOs, seafood buyers and others – are developing standards that minimize salmon aquaculture’s impacts on the environment and society, such as chemicals harming other marine species and production waste disturbing life on the ocean bottom. Given the popularity of salmon globally, as well as the many impacts associated with this rapidly growing industry, her work in coordinating the Dialogue is critical and high profile.
“It has been interesting and rewarding to be involved with the Dialogues from the beginning,” said Katherine. “It has given me the chance to help decide what process is best for the Dialogues and to work with a broad range of people from around the world.”
Click the globe to explore WWF's work
