Seafood Choices Alliance

Kristian Teleki, Vice President

Kristian Teleki joined SeaWeb as Vice President for Science Initiatives in November 2009. For the last decade Kristian was the Director of the International Coral Reef Action Network (ICRAN), a unique global partnership dedicated to addressing the serious decline in the health of the world's coral reefs. During his tenure, Kristian had oversight for more than 40 coral reef projects in 35 countries. Project activities ranged from livelihood diversification and resource management to the prevention and mitigation of ecological degradation of coral reefs through management, monitoring and public awareness actions. In addition to his ICRAN duties, Kristian established and led the One Ocean Programme at the United Nations Environment Programme's World Conservation Monitoring Centre, designed to reflect the interconnected nature of the world's seas and its coastlines, the rich and varied biodiversity they support, and human reliance on its resources and services.

Teleki has a diverse background in marine science and conservation, and his field experience extends from the polar to tropical environments. He is particularly interested in the relationship that humans have with the ocean and promoting the sustainable use of its resources. He has degrees from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and Cambridge University. Teleki is on the Editorial Board of Aquatic Conservation, is a member of the Resource Users Group for the European Project on Ocean Acidification (EPOCA) and is a Steering Committee member of the Global Islands Partnership and the Global Forum on Oceans, Coasts, and Islands. He is also a member of the Board of the Centre for Rural Empowerment and the Environment and its Scientific Advisory Committee, and is an advisor to Community Centred Conservation (C3).

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Elisabeth Vallet, Director of European Programs

Elisabeth joined the Seafood Choice in October 2006 to work with industry leaders and NGOs across continental Europe to increase the market for sustainable seafood. Elisabeth comes from a communications, policy and trade association background. She spent nine years as the Communications and Project Manager of the European Council of Young Farmers, an association based in Brussels that represents young farmers throughout the EU member States. In that role, she worked with private industry, policymakers, consumers, NGOs and other associations. She implemented a pan-European educational project, which aimed to raise the awareness of schoolchildren concerning European agriculture. Most recently, Elisabeth worked for the European Commission at DG Environment. Before her Brussels work, she helped to establish a trade association on biofuels in France.

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Russ Avery, Programme Assistant

Russ Avery joined SeaWeb in January 2010 as the Administrative Assistant to the Sustainable Markets and Science Initiatives teams in the London office. After graduating with a combined degree in French and Russian, Avery worked in various contract positions, including a technical assistant role at a film production company and as a case administrator for the Forensic and Dispute Services department of Deloitte LLP. In July 2009, Avery created his own website, Cool Footprint, which he set up in order to raise awareness about environmental issues, and he is further pursuing this passion by studying environmental science.

A native of the west coast of Scotland, Avery has traveled extensively. He lived in Chile for five months, where he taught at a school in Santiago, and in Saint Petersburg, Russia, for one year as part of his Bachelor of Arts degree. Having lived by the sea for much of his life, Avery enjoys most water-based activities, especially surfing, and he is looking forward to learning how to scuba dive one day. When not at work or by the sea, Avery also enjoys photography, filmmaking and cinema.

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Ned Daly, Senior Projects Advisor

Ned Daly is the Seafood Choices Senior Projects Advisor. In this position, Ned will support the Alliance’s corporate sustainable seafood initiatives in the North American marketplace and work to find global solutions to threats facing ocean ecosystems, communities dependent on those resources and the industries they support.

Ned has previously worked on developing sustainable markets in some equally challenging industries. Previous to joining SeaWeb, Ned was Director of RugMark International, a certification program for child-labor free rugs coming from Southeast Asia. Prior to that, he was Chief Operating Officer for the Forest Stewardship Council – US, managing relationships with industry leaders and a diversity of key stakeholders including conservation NGOs, policymakers and industry trade associations. Ned has also worked on sustainable markets in the agricultural sector and the relationship between resource extraction and ecosystem health.

Ned lives in a coastal Maine community where the impact of fisheries management and dwindling resources is felt directly.

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Philip Chou, Senior Manager

Philip develops and oversees implementation of programmatic initiatives that embed a culture of sustainability in the global marketplace; continuously advancing the vision of sustainability. As part of the Seafood Choices team, he works with industry, NGOs, government, and academia to engage them in constructive dialogue to find solutions for the most pressing issues in fisheries and aquaculture. Prior to joining SeaWeb in 2007, he served as China Program Officer for Conservation International, creating public-private biodiversity conservation partnerships in China. A native of the Outer Banks of North Carolina, Philip has served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Russia and a forest restoration volunteer in Kenya with A Rocha International. He is fluent in Chinese and conversant in Russian and Spanish. He holds a M.A. in International Environmental Policy from the Monterey Institute of International Studies and a B.S. in Biology from Guilford College.

Emily Howgate, Program Manager

In April 2007 Emily joined the London office of Seafood Choices and is responsible for helping develop relationships with a broad range of sustainable seafood stakeholders and providing logistical support to the UK program. Prior to joining Seafood Choices, Emily worked in the marine programs of several conservation organizations. In particular her experience relates to the impact of unsustainable fisheries on marine flagship species, including sea turtles and albatrosses. Through social research she conducted, Emily has a strong comprehension of sustainable seafood and consumer and retailer knowledge associated with this in the UK. Emily is passionate about sustainability and has been involved with environmental education initiatives in the UK. Her commitment to the environment, and particularly the marine realm, was honed through her Ecology degree at the University of East Anglia, UK and also a stint studying in California.

Lacey Schmeidler, Program Assistant

Lacey is the Program Assistant for Seafood Choices and is based in the Washington, DC office. In her role she provides support on a number of Seafood Choices’ sustainable seafood initiatives including assisting with the organization of the annual Seafood Summit. Lacey came to Seafood Choices after completing her Masters in International Development and Political Economy from the Institute of Social Studies in the Hague, the Netherlands, where she lived near the ocean for the first time, in the Scheveningen beach community. She also holds bachelors degrees in Political Science and German from Kansas State University.