John Weller

John B. Weller is a writer, photographer, filmmaker, and media strategist who works to drive marine conservation around the world. In 2004, he and Antarctic ecologist David Ainley founded The Last Ocean – a campaign for an MPA in the Ross Sea, Antarctica, which would eventually reach 1 billion people worldwide. The Last Ocean helped start and build what would become a global coalition of organizations, scientists, diplomats and more than a million people, and would eventually entrain the attention of world leaders. In 2016, the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) finally adopted a Ross Sea MPA. It is the first large-scale international MPA and the world’s largest MPA.

Weller has also spearheaded the conception, creation and delivery of national-level media campaigns supporting marine conservation initiatives in other important regions of the world’s ocean. These campaigns have resulted in new shark and manta ray sanctuaries in the Bahamas, Micronesia, and Indonesia; new international law protecting manta rays; and, sweeping conservation legislation in West Paua, Indonesia, protecting the ecosystem from ridge to reef and re-empowering local communities.

Weller was named a 2009 Pew Fellow in Marine Conservation, and served as a Safina Center Fellow 2014-2017. He currently works with OnlyOne to pursue game-changing conservation media strategies.