![Nancy Knowlton smiling at camera with ocean in background.](/sites/default/files/styles/01_contributor_image/public/KnowltonBioPhoto.jpeg.webp?itok=E3YK6Q8x)
Nancy Knowlton
Dr. Nancy Knowlton is the former Sant Chair for Marine Science at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and a scientific leader of the Census of Marine Life. She wrote the book, Citizens of the Sea, to celebrate the ten years of the Census. She founded the Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography of the University of California, San Diego. Knowlton has devoted her life to studying, celebrating, and striving to protect the multitude of life-forms that call the sea home. She lives with her family in Maine.
![A coral has just spawned. Each of the hundreds of polyps releases a small pink bundle of sperm and eggs.](/sites/default/files/styles/3_2_small/public/2023-11/m-fav-spawningcropped.jpg.webp?itok=WqQ4X7RY)
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A Tale of Sex and Stress in the Ocean
![A scalloped hammerhead (Sphyrna lewini) at Isla del Coco, Costa Rica.](/sites/default/files/styles/3_2_small/public/2023-11/TGossED4_0_1.jpg.webp?itok=bIT2pliS)
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Do Sharks Smell in Stereo?
![Overfishing is leading to an abundance of less desirable species like jellyfish.](/sites/default/files/styles/3_2_small/public/2023-11/jellyBurger-full_0.jpg.webp?itok=U16VHBsW)
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Peanut Butter and Jellyfish
![Home is where the hull is: Since the dawn of seafaring, humankind has had to deal with pesky creatures, such as barnacles, that “foul” ship hulls and boat propellers like this one.](/sites/default/files/styles/3_2_small/public/2023-11/PropellerWithBarnaclesCropped.jpg.webp?itok=ow2A7x9f)
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No Fouling Around
![An underwater photo of coral recovering from a bleaching event.](/sites/default/files/styles/3_2_small/public/2023-11/mainimage_2.jpg.webp?itok=Lkv3zf0P)
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A Pleasant Surprise: The Recovery of Bleached Panamanian Corals
![An adult and juvenile killer whale frolic in the water.](/sites/default/files/styles/3_2_small/public/2023-11/22009_killer-whales-orcinus-orca.jpg.webp?itok=Z-v4Av6K)
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Menopausal Moms: A Mammal Mystery
![Photo of the head of a leafy seadragon](/sites/default/files/styles/3_2_small/public/2023-11/DevotedDadsImage.jpg.webp?itok=7IafhHpa)
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Devoted Dads: From Seahorses to Sea Spiders
![Colorful corals are disappearing in the Great Barrier Reef.](/sites/default/files/styles/3_2_small/public/2023-11/coral-great-barrier-reef.jpeg.webp?itok=PXWQqd_0)
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The Great Barrier Reef – Going, Going, Gone???
![Black and white image of the Western Flyer boat at dock.](/sites/default/files/styles/3_2_small/public/2023-11/western-flyer.jpg.webp?itok=0PvC1fy0)
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