We are honored to be awarding Julie Packard the John Laird Lifetime Achievement award at this year’s Butterfly Ball. Julie Packard is executive director of the acclaimed Monterey Bay Aquarium, which she helped found in the late 1970s as the nation’s first major public aquarium dedicated to interpreting marine life of a single region. She is an international leader in the field of ocean conservation, and a leading voice for science-based policy reform in support of healthy oceans.
Under her leadership, the aquarium has pioneered innovative exhibits and education initiatives, and has evolved into one of the nation’s leading ocean conservation organizations. It is known for its respected Seafood Watch program, work to improve ocean governance in California and beyond, and field research illuminating the lives and conservation challenges facing sea otters, white sharks and tuna in the wild. The aquarium envisions a world in which both people and nature thrive, and equity and social justice are essential underpinnings to achieving its mission: to inspire conservation of the ocean.
Julie is a leader in ocean conservation worldwide and brings a lifelong passion for the natural world to her service with many organizations dedicated to conservation activities. She is equally a strong advocate for advancing equity and diversity in the sciences, including endowment of scholarships at UC Santa Cruz that support individuals from historically marginalized communities, and of aquarium programs that help young women develop confidence and identity in the sciences.
