Karly Kelso is a Director, Climate Resilient Food Systems at Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) where she builds partnerships to elevate and advocate for the recognition of blue foods in contributing to global nutrition security and in enhancing resiliency to climate change and other global disruptions, like the COVID-19 pandemic. She leads the Secretariat for the Blue/Aquatic Foods Action Coalition established at the 2021 UN Food System Summit and has spent over 10 years on EDF’s Oceans team advancing sustainable fishery management implementation in Asia and the Pacific.

Prior Karly represented the Mission of the Marshall Islands at the United Nations and at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20). Karly holds a BA in Anthropology from Wake Forest University and a Master in Environmental Management from the Yale School of the Environment.

Areas of expertise: 
Blue foods, food systems, Asia-Pacific, fishery management design, small-scale fisheries, rights-based management