Michael Osmond is a Senior Program Officer on the WW-US Oceans Team. Mike joined WWF in 2002 and is the WWF-US lead for the Thailand blue swimming crab and Vietnam blue swimming crab FIPs. Mike formerly managed WWF’s International Smart Gear Competition, which brought together the fishing industry, research institutes, universities and governments to inspire and reward practical, innovative fishing gear designs that reduce bycatch. The Smart Gear program also worked with the winning ideas to advance them to a stage where they can be implemented by industry. Mike is working with a winning idea across a number of countries to reduce sea turtle bycatch. He has 30 years of experience in marine conservation, working in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and then Western Australia’s Department of Conservation and Land Management where he helped manage marine parks off the coast of Perth and an extensive set of island reserves Australia’s northwest. He then served as the Education and Exhibitions Manager in Perth’s Underwater World before returning to the east coast and Maui to conduct humpback whale research for the Pacific Whale Foundation. Mike has a B.S. in Marine Biology/Zoology and a M.S. in Tropical Ecology.
