George Shillinger, Ph.D.

Dr. Shillinger is Upwell’s Executive Director and Co-Founder. He previously served as Executive Director for The Leatherback Trust. George has worked in environmental conservation since 1986, serving in various capacities for the Center for Ocean Solutions, California Trout, World Wildlife Fund, The Nature Conservancy, RARE, the Homeland Foundation, Conservation International, Discovery Communications-Animal Planet, and the Tag-A-Giant Fund of The Ocean Foundation.

George developed the initial vision for the Eastern Tropical Pacific Seascape and seed funding critical to launching the four-country transboundary conservation initiative. George’s research interests include satellite-tracking studies on highly migratory marine species, including turtles, billfish, sharks, and tuna. He is co-founder of the Great Turtle Race, which used satellite tracking data and remotely-sensed environmental data to raise global awareness and generate funding for the management and conservation of critically endangered leatherbacks.

George holds a PhD in Marine Biology from Stanford University, an MBA from the Yale University School of Management, an MS in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Stanford University, and a BA in the Biological Basis of Behavior from the University of Pennsylvania.