David Helvarg is Executive Director of Blue Frontier, an ocean conservation and policy group and the author of six books: Blue Frontier, The War Against the Greens, 50 Ways to Save the Ocean, Rescue Warriors, Saved by the Sea and The Golden Shore – California’s Love Affair with the Sea. He is editor of the Ocean and Coastal Conservation Guide, organizer of ‘Blue Vision’ Summits for ocean activists and of Peter Benchley Ocean Awards (co-founded with Wendy Benchley).  Among his honors he is winner of Coastal Living Magazine’s 2005 Leadership Award and the 2007 Herman Melville Literary Prize.

Helvarg worked as a war correspondent in Northern Ireland and Central America, covered a range of issues from military science to the AIDS epidemic, and reported from every continent including Antarctica. An award-winning journalist, he produced more than 40 broadcast documentaries for PBS, The Discovery Channel, and others. His print work has appeared in publications including The New York Times, LA Times, Smithsonian, National Geographic, Popular Science, Sierra, and Salon. He’s done radio work for Marketplace, AP radio, and Pacifica. He has led workshops for journalists in Poland, Turkey, Tunisia, Slovakia and Washington DC.

He is a licensed Private Investigator, body-surfer and scuba diver.