Mariasole Bianco
Mariasole is a marine conservationist, environmental scientist and communicator. Over the past 10 years she has made a significant and lasting contribution to the work of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) work by championing gender and the ocean through the leadership she is providing to the next generation. This work is empowering young professionals with an interest in the ocean and more broadly about nature conservation around the world to engage with the conservation community, to speak up and share their inspiring stories and about the importance and value of protecting our planet. Remarkable was her contribution for the development and organisation of the next generations journey at the 2016 IUCN World Conservation Congress including the organisation of the most successful High Level Dialogue with speakers as Jane Goodall, Paul Rose and many young professionals. For IUCN, Mariasole coordinates the Young Professionals network of the World Commission on Protected Areas leading the energy and effort of hundreds of young professionals working all over the world for nature conservation.
Nationally Mariasole has become a reference point for knowledge related to Marine conservation, Climate Change and sustainability working also with the Representation of the European Commission in Italy to communicate the importance of the Green Deal. For the past five years she has been holding a space on National Italian Television as the Ocean expert in the program Kilimangiaro on RAI 3, enthusing every month million of people about the wonders of our Ocean. Because of her success as a communicator Mariasole was called by the University of Genoa to teach environmental and natural science students how to communicate science effectively becoming the professor of Environmental Dissemination. Mariasole has also been working with the private sector on ocean responsibility and Sustainable Development Goals. In 2019 Mariasole was invited by the UN to moderate a panel at the World Ocean’s Day event in New York City. Mariasole has always been a strong advocate of gender equality, in particular of women in STEM and policy fields, showing not just her victories but also the struggles she encountered along the way, and inspiring hundreds of people in the process.
