David Medio
Honorary Visiting Fellow

Profile

Biography

David is a marine environmental scientist with over 30 years’ experience. His expertise focuses on coastal zone management (CZM), marine policy and strategy, biodiversity conservation and protected area management, fisheries management, tropical marine ecology, marine mammals, environmental, social and strategic impact assessment (ESIA/SEA), marine spatial planning (MSP), offshore industry oil and gas and marine renewable energy. He is highly experienced in integrating the sustainable use and management of marine and coastal resources with the social and economic needs of communities at local, national and regional level. David is very familiar with projects that require funding via international lenders and associated compliance mechanisms (Due Diligence; IFC Performance Standards). He is also familiar with the US Endangered Species Act (ESA) Consultation process (Biological Assessment as required by the US NOAA/NMFS).

David has considerable experience working in an advisory capacity for government departments, international agencies including those of the United Nations system, International Lenders and International Organisations (EBRD, ADB, EU, UN and its Agencies), NGOs, diplomatic representatives and public and private entities associated with marine and ocean governance, as well as in community-based management programmes. His experience includes working with multi-disciplinary teams in EIA, SEA, CZM, marine protected areas, biodiversity conservation, oil and gas projects, port development, tourism development and fisheries projects. He recently compiled a strategic ecosystem-based assessment for the Regional Organization for the Protection of the Marine Environment in the Persian/Arabian Gulf (ROPME) and drafted the Biological Assessment for US Government’s National Marine Fisheries Services (part of NOAA) associated with a large offshore gas project in Mozambique.

He has worked extensively overseas especially the Middle East (Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Saudi Arabia, UAE and other Gulf countries) as well as in East and West Africa, Southeast Asia, the Mediterranean, Latin America, Russia, the Caribbean, several European countries (UK, Italy, France, Greece) and most recently central Asia (Turkmenistan). Experience includes small island states (Anguilla, BVI, Trinidad and Tobago, Cayman Islands, Isle of Man, Gibraltar), and small coastal states such as Monaco and island components of sovereign states such as Crete, Palawan and Coron (Philippines), Sir Bani Yas and Sir Abu Nuair (UAE) and Isle of Wight (UK).

He is currently a senior lecturer at York University in the UK and a peer reviewer for the Qatar National Research Foundation.

David’s linguistic skills have allowed him to play an important role beyond the use of his solid scientific knowledge of the marine environment in its broadest sense. In any multilingual environment the ability to transfer knowledge, facilitate and negotiate at various levels (local stakeholders, government, lending organisations, international agencies) in a number of languages is paramount.

David has a PhD in Marine Resource Management from the University of York in the UK. His research looked at the significance of damage by visitors to coral reefs in the Ras Mohammed National Park in the Egyptian Red Sea. The first such investigation in the northern Red Sea, an area witnessing an unprecedented surge in large scale tourism, led to the development and implementation of management interventions for the sustainable development of the area in question.

Departmental roles

Teaching MSc module Environmental Impact Assessment

Teaching

Undergraduate

• Environmental Impact Assessment, MSc
• Environmental Governance (part of MSc)