Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson is a marine biologist, policy expert, writer, and Brooklyn native. She is co-founder of Urban Ocean Lab , a think tank for coastal cities, and co-creator of the Spotify/Gimlet podcast How to Save a Planet , on climate solutions. She co-edited the bestselling climate anthology All We Can Save and co-founded The All We Can Save Project. Recently, she co-authored the Blue New Deal , a roadmap for including the ocean in climate policy. Previously, she was executive director of the Waitt Institute, developed policy at the EPA and NOAA, and taught as an adjunct professor at New York University. Dr. Johnson earned a BA from Harvard University in environmental science and public policy, and a Ph.D. from Scripps Institution of Oceanography in marine biology. She publishes widely, including in The New York Times , Washington Post , and Scientific American . She is on the 2021 Time 100 Next List and was named one of Elle’s 27 Women Leading on Climate . Outside magazine called her “the climate leader we need.”

Find her @ayanaeliza.