Jacqueline Uku

Jacqueline is a seagrass scientist and conservation leader and has worked on seagrass ecosystems for over 20 years. She is based at the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute, Mombasa. She worked extensively with communities during her tenure as the Project Coordinator of the Kenya Coastal Development. Nationally, she has contributed to the development of the National Environmental Policy as a member of the National Steering Committee. She has been a mentor under the African Women Agricultural Research and Development Programme (AWARD). She has served as a technical member of the National Blue Economy Technical Committee and is the Co-chair of the Editorial Board of the 2nd Edition of the Global Ocean Science Report. Jacqueline is also the recipient of the 2019 NK Panniker Award for capacity building from the IOC-UNESCO General Assembly. She is the President of the WIOMSA and she has worked to establish the Network for Women in Marine Science (WIMS) as well as the Western Indian Ocean Early Career Scientists Network (WIO-ECSN). Jacqueline is a co-opted member of the Executive Committee of the Scientific Committee for Oceanic Research (SCOR). You may find more about her personal journey by following this link https://www.wiomsa.org/publications/wiomsa-magazine-issue-no-9-december-2019/