Duane Silverstein

Biographical Information
"Since 1999, Duane Silverstein has been the executive director of Seacology, an international non-governmental organization with the sole focus of preserving islands – their fragile habitats, vanishing species and historic cultures – throughout the globe. For 18 years prior to heading Seacology, he was the executive director of the Goldman Fund, one of California’s largest philanthropic foundations. Duane was instrumental in creating and heading the Goldman Environmental Prize, which has been dubbed the “Nobel Prize of the Environment” by National Geographic and news media around the globe. Silverstein has met with presidents of the United States, Secretaries-general of the United Nations, kings, heads of state, and indigenous chiefs throughout the world on behalf of the environment. His work has been covered in media such as Time Magazine, The San Francisco Chronicle, and The New York Times. Articles he has written have appeared in over a dozen international publications. In 2009 he was selected by a public vote as a national All-Star Among Us to be honored by Major League Baseball at the All-Star Game in St. Louis. In 2010 Silverstein was given the esteemed Jefferson Award for Public Service. In giving Silverstein a 2010 Coastal Hero Award, Sunset Magazine called Silverstein a “superhero of the deep.” In early 2012, he was invited to give the closing speech on the state of the Earth’s islands for the prestigious TEDx conference in South Africa’s Cape Town. Widely considered one of the world’s foremost experts on islands, he is a National Fellow of The Explorers Club. Silverstein attended both Stony Brook and Columbia Universities, later receiving a Masters in Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley. "