Dr. Alison Cross directs efforts toward creating sustainable fisheries for WWF-US. She has specific technical expertise in the requirements of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification program, which can be used to incentivize wild-capture fisheries to improve their environmental performance. She has helped over 50 fisheries on six continents engage in the MSC process in order to identify and address barriers to meeting the MSC’s environmental standard. Alison supports the fishery sustainability efforts of WWF’s seafood corporate partners, engages in MSC fishery assessments and policy consultations, and leads other certification initiatives such as WWF’s regular benchmarking of fishery certification programs. In addition, Alison helps support WWF’s global efforts related to fishery certification and standards. Alison has worked for WWF since 2006 from Palo Alto, Seattle, and her current home in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts.

Prior to joining WWF, Alison worked for the National Marine Fisheries Service and the San Francisco Ocean Film Festival. She has conducted field work in Alaska and in Baja California. Alison has a B.A. in Biology from Whitman College and a Ph.D. in Aquatic and Fishery Sciences from the University of Washington, where she studied the early marine growth and energetics of hatchery and wild pink salmon in Prince William Sound and the Gulf of Alaska.