Shortly after graduating from the Marine Conservation and Policy program at SoMAS, Gina Greer was appointed Executive Director of the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO), a member organization founded in 1991 to advocate for and promote the practice of safe and environmentally responsible private sector travel to the Antarctic. In this role, she supports IAATO’s current guidelines and works to develop better ways to manage tourism to the Antarctic peninsula. With 20 years of past accounting experience under her belt as well as the skills she gained through the MCP program, Gina brings a unique and valuable perspective to this role.
Gina first realized her love for marine conservation through expeditions to the Arctic circle and Antarctica, where she encountered breath-taking landscapes and charismatic marine mammals. While attending the MCP program Gina completed a capstone project with Gotham Whale, a small NGO that focuses on whale watching and research. Through this project, she was able to foster another one of her passions – photography, which she used to gather humpback whale fluke identification data. In addition, she also acted as a naturalist and educator on board the whale watching vessel.
When she’s not supporting safe and environmentally responsible practices south of 60 degrees, or practicing photography, Gina continues to work as a research associate with Gotham Whale and volunteers at the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society.