Dr. Joe Pollock is a scientist, conservationist, and educator with extensive experience leading conservation, outreach, policy, science, and strategy initiatives. Joe has collaborated deeply with scientists, managers, and Indigenous and non-Indigenous community members in Australia, the Caribbean, and over a dozen countries around the globe to develop the knowledge, tools, and public will to protect coral reefs and the people that depend upon them.Joe is the Senior Coral Reef Resilience Scientist for The Nature Conservancy’s (TNC) Hawai'i and Palmyra Programs. In this role, he advises on coral reef conservation, restoration, and monitoring efforts throughout the Hawaiian Islands and Palmyra Atoll. Joe was previously the Coral Strategy Director for TNC’s Caribbean Division, where he led an interdisciplinary program to protect, monitor, and restore Caribbean coral reefs.Prior to joining The Nature Conservancy, Joe was a Postdoctoral Scholar at Penn State University, where he co-led the Global Coral Microbiome Project. This initiative, which involved diverse partners in 10 countries spanning the Pacific and Indian Oceans and Caribbean Sea, explored the important roles that microscopic organisms play in coral health and resilience. Dr. Pollock is deeply committed to providing pathways into science and conservation for peoples from disparate ethnic, cultural, and ideological backgrounds. As the Founding Director of Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders in Marine Science, Joe empowers the next generation of Indigenous Australian leaders to leverage traditional knowledge and modern technologies to better protect Australia's iconic reefs.