As Ocean Conservancy’s Vice President, Climate, Dr. Fatima Candace Vahlsing leads a robust team of policy experts and scientists working at the intersection of climate change and the ocean. Ocean Conservancy’s climate portfolio includes accelerating the shift to responsible clean ocean energy and spurring critical technology innovation; transitioning to a zero-emission maritime shipping industry; and advancing the body of ocean climate science.

Before joining Ocean Conservancy, Dr. Vahlsing served as the inaugural Senior Advisor for Clean Energy Industrial Strategy and Senior Climate Advisor at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). In both capacities, she counseled the USAID administrator on clean energy and climate matters and was charged with driving progress on the administrator’s strategic policy priorities, including those at the intersection of clean-energy industrial policy, climate, finance, economic resilience and international development.

Prior to her appointment at USAID, Dr. Vahlsing was the Associate Director for Climate, Energy, Environment and Science at the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) where she was one of a handful of White House aides that designed, negotiated and implemented the Inflation Reduction Act, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the CHIPS and Science Act. She also led the domestic Climate, Environment and Science Policy Team on Biden-Harris transition. In the 115th and 116th Congresses, she served as Senior Advisor to U.S. Senator Michael F. Bennet and was the Minority Staff Director for the U.S. Senate Finance Subcommittee for Energy, Natural Resources and Infrastructure. In the Obama White House, Dr. Vahlsing served as a Senior Policy Advisor for Energy and Climate Change, working with the Domestic Policy Council, National Security Council and Council on Environmental Quality.

She holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Health Sciences and a master’s degree in public policy from the University of California at Berkeley. Vahlsing lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband and enjoys photography and hiking.

Favorite ocean animal: Sabellidae – feather duster