Manuel Mejia

Associate Director of Partnerships & Community Engagement

Manuel leads our Hawai‘i program with a biocultural and science-based approach to positively impact ecosystems and human well-being. He holds two master’s degrees, one in agricultural and biosystems engineering from McGill University and another in environmental science and policy from Columbia University. Manuel has dedicated over two decades building community resilience through biodiversity conservation with organizations around the world, including Biodiversity Conservation Network, World Wildlife Fund (Tubbataha Reefs, UNESCO World Heritage Site), Fisheries Defense Fund (New York City), The Nature Conservancy, the Maui Nui Makai Network (Hawai’i), and the Locally-Managed Marine Area Network across seven countries in the Asia-Pacific region (Fiji, Philippines, Palau, Indonesia, Solomon Islands, Ponhpei, and Papua New Guinea). Manuel is lucky to have crewed on Hokuleʻa, Hawai’iʻs traditional voyaging canoe during her Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage and is a passionate student of humanity’s inextricable relationship with the ocean.

The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears, or the sea.

Isak Dinesen