Michelle BENDER

Michelle 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), global recognition of Whales as legal persons/entities, 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.