James Nikitine
Founder/Director, Christchurch, New Zealand
James is a French and British marine scientist, filmmaker and consultant, originally from the French Alps near Geneva. He holds a MSc in Marine Systems and Policies from the University of Edinburgh and a Bachelor of Arts in Film from the University of Exeter. For nearly a decade, he has worked globally as a consultant in ocean science and policy communications, on issues of high seas governance, microplastics pollution, climate change impacts on the ocean, deep reef research, ocean risk and marine protected area management. He runs Marine Communications, a strategic communications and film production agency specialized in marine conservation, ocean science and policy. James has been working for several years as project manager and producer with the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and has worked with WWF, Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy, the Ocean Acidification Alliance the UK government and the Edinburgh Ocean Leaders. In 2019, he worked as Media Advisor for the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO, in the context of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for sustainable Development, and in 2020 with the International Seabed Authority on a deep-sea ocean literacy strategy. Since 2015, he has been a member of IUCN’s World Commission on Protected Areas, contributing to its marine task force. He lives in Christchurch, New Zealand and is a Fellow with the Edmund Hillary Fellowship. In 2020, he founded Blue Cradle, a non-profit working in New Zealand promoting ocean conservation and literacy.