Earth Day 2023: Community and marine conservation with Monterey bay Aquariums Julie Packard

 
Managing Earth’s warming climate means understanding the critical role the ocean plays. Not only does it help regulate its temperature, the health of the planet is deeply interconnected with the health of its ocean. Yet, it faces threats too numerous to count, including overfishing, ecosystem degradation, warming waters, a surge in single-use plastics, rising sea levels, and endangered species.  But the ocean offers hope, too, as scientists and environmental advocates look to this vast resource and its 2.2 million known species in search of solutions.
One of the leaders in ocean conservation and restoration is the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Northern California. Since its founding more than 50 years ago, the organization is recognized as being a model of community action and engagement earned through decades of ocean life rehabilitation, research, and the revival of its local waters, which are home to large populations of sardines, whales, and sea otters.
Hoping to encourage others to do the same for their own local waterways is Julie Packard, marine biologist, executive director and co-founder of Monterey Bay Aquarium — and daughter of HP co-founder David Packard. She recently joined HP to celebrate Earth Day and raise awareness of the great need for ocean conservation through community action.
“Over time as the ocean changed, we updated [our mission] to inspiring conservation,” Packard says. “The thing about the ocean is that when people engage and take action, it can recover.” 
Packard sat down with Alex Cho, president of Personal Systems at HP, for a fireside chat about three ways in which it’s well within our power to protect the planet.