Eric Poncelet

Eric is a Senior Director and Senior Mediator with Kearns & West (K&W) in San Francisco and heads up K&W’s marine practice. He has over 15 years experience designing, facilitating, and analyzing collaborative stakeholder processes in the natural resource management domain. Recent projects include working with the California Marine Life Protection Act Initiative to designate marine protected areas (MPAs) off the California coast and the California Marine Protected Area Monitoring Enterprise to develop associated MPA monitoring plans. He has also supported numerous initiatives by the California Ocean Protection Council (OPC), NOAA, and the West Coast Governors’ Agreement on Ocean Health, including revision of the OPC’s strategic plan, conducting a geospatial information management system needs assessment, supporting implementation of California’s sustainable seafood initiative, and designing and facilitating various public and technical workshops to support coastal and marine spatial planning and resource conservation efforts. Eric holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and a Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology, and is a roster member of the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution. Publications include the book Partnering for the Environment: Multistakeholder Collaboration in a Changing World (2004).

Kearns & West: www.kearnswest.com