Dr. Lida Teneva is a marine conservationist and ecologist who has investigated climate change impacts on the ocean, worked with indigenous communities on sustainable fisheries, started ocean policy advisory services for lawmakers, and designed ocean exploration programs. Prior to joining WWF, Lida served as a Program Director for the California Ocean Science Trust, and before that, she served as Science Officer for Dalio Philanthropies’ OceanX initiative. Prior to OceanX, she worked in Hawai‘i as Science Advisor for Conservation International and worked on marine protected areas in Fiji with the Wildlife Conservation Society. She has also been an expedition guide for National Geographic Expeditions around the world. Lida assists sustainable ocean solution start-ups through the European incubator, Katapult Ocean. She is an Advisory Council member with the Inian Islands Institute, an education and research station in Southeast Alaska, and a Board member of OneReef, a coral reef conservation organization.

Lida received her Bachelor of Science degree in Geology from Franklin and Marshall College, her Masters in climate science from Columbia University and her PhD in marine ecology from Stanford University. Lida is originally from Sofia, Bulgaria. She is an avid diver, flyfisherwoman, aviator, and hiker, and loves the California coast.