Kristina M. Gjerde, J.D., is Senior High Seas Advisor to IUCN’s Global Marine and Polar Programme.  Kristina received her Juris Doctor from New York University School of Law with a focus on comparative and international law, and practiced admiralty law for several years in a New York City law firm.  For the past 30+ years, Kristina has focused on the nexus of law, science, and policy relevant to sustaining marine biodiversity. Kristina has co-founded four science-policy partnerships: the Global Ocean Biodiversity Initiative, The Sargasso Sea Project, the High Seas Alliance  and the Deep Ocean Stewardship Initiative (DOSI).  In addition to advancing a new UN treaty for marine life beyond boundaries, she has authored or co-authored more than 150 publications.  Kristina is an Honorary Fellow of the University of Edinburgh School of Geosciences, an adjunct professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, California, and lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.