Commissioners
Julie Packard is the executive director of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, the nation’s first major public aquarium dedicated to interpreting a single region—the Monterey Bay. Ms. Packard has served as the Aquarium’s Executive Director since its opening in the late 1970’s, and the Aquarium has led its field in inspiring and engaging the public to become involved in ocean conservation, redefining aquariums as a force for conservation. In its 20th year, the Aquarium launched the Center for the Future of the Oceans to protect the oceans by promoting sound conservation policy. She has served as a trustee of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation for 30 years and has been deeply involved in its Conservation and Science Programs. Ms. Packard also chairs the board of the Aquarium’s sister institution, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, and has served on numerous other boards and committees related to conservation, including the California Nature Conservancy and World Wildlife Fund. Ms. Packard is a regular contributor to an ocean blog on the Huffington Post. She received the Monterey Community Foundation Distinguished Trustee Award for community service in 2009, the Ted Danson Ocean Hero Award from Oceana in 2004, and in 1998 she was the recipient of the Audubon Medal for Conservation. Ms. Packard received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biology from the University of California at Santa Cruz. She was a commissioner on the Pew Oceans Commission before joining the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative.
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