What happens when science, law, and love for the Ocean converge? Marine conservation biologist and National Geographic Explorer Callie Veelenturf has spent years walking the beaches with sea turtles and the communities who live alongside them, showing how science grounded in relationship can spark lasting protection. International legal expert Michelle Bender is advancing a new paradigm of Ocean Rights—embedding reciprocity, respect, and responsibility into laws and policies that recognize the Ocean as a living relative rather than a resource.
Together, Callie and Michelle invite us into a vision of change: sea turtles and people thriving together, orcas and other beings recognized as subjects of law, and humanity rediscovering its role as caretaker of the living Sea. Their stories remind us that transformation is possible—when research, law, and community rise together in service to the Ocean.
Callie Veelenturf is a marine conservation biologist, National Geographic Explorer, a Scientist with the United Nations Harmony with Nature Programme, and Founder of The Leatherback Project and National Geographic Society’s program For Nature, who inspires high-impact conservation measures through collaborative scientific research initiatives. Callie has a special focus on marine turtles, ocean ecosystems and the Rights of Nature.
As Founder of The Leatherback Project, she has trained over two thousand Panamanian Army and Navy soldiers in the recognition of illegal sea turtle products; identified new to science sea turtle nesting and foraging sites; and spearheaded groundbreaking conservation proposals and laws in Panama including a new National Wildlife Refuge; Law 287 recognizing the Rights of Nature; and Article 29 of Law 371 that recognizes sea turtles as legal entities with specific rights.
She leads the Operations for three field research programs that document coastal development threats, justify new protection measures, and combat fisheries bycatch in the Pearl Islands Archipelago, Darien Gap, and project Iluminar el Mar from 2022-2025 in Ecuador. Most recently, she has received the 2024 Future For Nature Award, 2024 Schmidt Ocean Institute Visionary Award, and 2024 New Explorer of The Year Award from The Explorers Club and been named a 2022 United Nations Development Programme Ocean Innovator and 2020 National Geographic Early Career Leader.
Michelle Bender is the creator and leading expert in the movement towards "Ocean Rights," the application of Rights of Nature in the ocean policy seascape. She has provided her expertise to Rights of Nature laws and policies worldwide, including in the United States (Rhode Island and Washington), Panama (national law, sea turtle conservation law and marine reserve), the Philippines (national law), Aruba (constitutional amendment), the Moananui Sanctuary Agreement to recognise whales as legal persons, and within international law and institutions (IUCN Motion 056 (2025)). She serves on the Advisory Board for the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature, is a member of the IUCN's World Commission on Environmental Law, an expert of the UN Harmony with Nature initiative and Steering Committee Member for the UN Ocean Decade Coordination Office on Connecting People and the Ocean. In 2018, she was named one of 15 Youth Ocean Leaders taking on the world internationally by the Sustainable Ocean Alliance. Michelle graduated Summa Cum Laude from Vermont Law School, where she earned a Master’s in Environmental Law and Policy and holds a B.S. in Biology with a Marine Emphasis from Western Washington University.
Explore More Ocean Offerings
This webinar is part of a larger collective offering from the Organization of Nature Evolutionaries. Visit the main Ocean page to explore the full Ocean Conversation Series, join the Ocean Gratitude Ceremony, and enjoy spoken stories, poetry, recipes, and other ways to connect with the living Ocean. → Return to the main Ocean page
Conversation Series Schedule
Amazon to Ocean: The Currents That Connect Us, September 16th
Featuring Dr. Rosa Vasquez Espinoza, Peruvian chemical biologist, Author, and NatGeo Explorer
➡️Replay
The Plastic Crisis & Our Interconnected Ocean, September 23rd
Featuring Rachel Bustamante, Ocean Advocate and Environmental Campaign Coordinator
Tamara Adame, Scientific Diver and Anti-Plastics Activist
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Whale Kinship: Stories of Love and Evolution, October 14th
Featuring Pat McCabe, (Weyakpa Najin Win, Woman Stands Shining)—Diné mother, Grandmother, Activist, and Ceremonial Leader
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Herring Protectors, October 23rd
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Ocean Voices: A Journey into Intuitive Interspecies Communication, November 11th
Special 2-hour interactive webinar workshop on Intuitive Interspecies Communication and how this is being implemented to support Ocean health and research. Featuring Dr. Lynne Shannon, Wynter Worsthorne, Eleni Gkikakis, & Christine Noble Seller
➡️Register Here
When the Ocean Has Rights
Featuring Callie Veelenturf & Michelle Bender
➡️Register Here
