Founder and Executive Director of Seatone Consulting, Rich Wilson is an award winning consultant, trainer and certified professional facilitator with more than twenty years experience in resource conservation, sustainable business, program management and public engagement in natural resources management planning. Prior to founding Seatone in 2010, Rich worked as an international program manager with the Coral Reef Alliance, as a dive team leader with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – Coral Reef Ecosystem Program, and as a park ranger with the U.S. National Park Service. In addition to his work designing and leading Seatone projects, Rich occasionally facilitates multi-party collaborative engagements as a senior facilitator/mediator for the Sacramento State University Center for Collaborative Policy.
Rich brings a collaborative approach to client engagements in order to create durable alliances between resource managers, the private sector, conservation non-profits and resource users. His facilitative approach—which recognizes and supports both the wisdom of the individual and the collective problem solving capability of the group—has resulted, in multiple countries and destinations around the world, improved marine protected area management capacity, performance and staff competency; progressive fishery management legislation and policy recommendations; integrated water management plans and groundwater management plans; sustainable tourism statutes evolved from voluntary standards; widespread reduction in anchor damage to coral reef ecosystems; and pioneering partnerships among divergent stakeholder groups.
Rich specializes in conservation program development, consensus building and conflict resolution surrounding natural resource management planning and policy issues in both marine and terrestrial settings. He has led action planning sessions and presented papers on a range of conservation and sustainability topics at the 3rd and 4th International Tropical Marine Ecosystem Management Symposium, the 63rd and 65th annual meeting of the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute, the 2005 Mesoamerican Congress on Protected Areas and the 1st Sustainable Tourism Conference for Small Islands in San Andres, Colombia.
Over the course of his career, Rich has designed and facilitated hundreds of workshops, public consultations and training-of-trainers programs on resource management, sustainable business, collaborative policy development and a wide array of conservation oriented topics.
Countries of Experience
Anguilla, The Bahamas, Belize, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Fiji, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Montserrat, Micronesia, Palau, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, United States
Education and Professional Affiliations
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- Bachelor of Arts, History – California State University, Chico
- Certified Professional Facilitator – International Association of Facilitation
- Roster Member – US Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution
- Certificate in Public Participation – International Association of Public Participation
- Negotiation and Mediation training – Strauss Institute for Dispute Resolution
- Marine Protected Area Design and Management training – Florida International University
- Leadership and Resources Team Member – Caribbean Marine Protected Area Managers Network and Forum