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Resilient Oceans. Resilient Nations.

 The world is four years from its 30x30 deadline, and only around 10% of the ocean is effectively protected. The Oxford Marine Protection Project (OMPP) develops governance-integrated, data-driven tools to give marine protection fresh momentum, housed at the Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery at the University of Oxford. 

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Our Goal

Our goal is to produce an open-source decision-support map and analytical framework that provides transparent, evidence-based guidance on where marine protection can strengthen environmental resilience, economic stability, and national security. By making strategic marine planning more accessible and governance-informed, OMPP supports more effective and durable ocean protection worldwide.

Our work areas

AI-Enhanced Data Integration

Many regions lack the quality of data needed to design MPAs that actively protect vulnerable habitats. The problem is one of integration. Biodiversity surveys, climate trajectories, vessel tracking, and community knowledge sit in separate silos, in incompatible formats, often inaccessible to the people who need them most.

OMPP is building the BioSea Atlas, an open-source platform that integrates the most relevant datasets across these thematic areas, accelerating the creation of effective, dynamic MPAs.

Integrating Security into Marine Protection

Dominant MPA frameworks remain narrowly ecological.

Durable protection requires integrating three security dimensions deeply aligned with conservation goals:

  • Military and sovereignty (illegal fleets and contested boundaries)

  • Economic (fisheries collapse and coastal food systems under pressure)

  • Climate (warming oceans reshaping where biodiversity is resilient)

Convening Authority

One of the biggest barriers to marine conservation is the difficulty of getting the right people in the right room.

Oxford brings unparalleled convening power across world governments, research institutions, NGOs, and local partners, with the catalytic effect of unlocking outside support for protection.

Biosea Atlas (1)

Building the evidence base.

BioSea Atlas, in collaboration with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and WRI. First open-source ML model for MPA designation integrating climate stressors, geopolitical governance risks, and shifting marine populations. First framework to model marine biodiversity in three dimensions including depth. 

More on BioSea Atlas
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Translating evidence into protection.

Working with local organisations, governments, and island communities to designate and durably fund MPAs. Active in Cagayancillo (Philippines, with WWF), with a proposed next focus on the Central Arctic Ocean. 

Find out more about our work in Cagayancillo

Our team

Noah

Noah Mihan

Co-Director

Noah is a Sustainable Finance Strategy Associate at Systemiq and the Oxford ZERO Institute. He holds an MSc from Oxford and a BSE from Princeton, and focuses on energy policy, development finance, and national security.

Hansa

Hansa Mukherjee

Co-Director

Hansa is a Rhodes Scholar using remote sensing to inform climate policy. She works with the COP30 Presidency, has collaborated with NASA, and consults for the UN on climate resilience. She holds two master’s degrees from Oxford.

Ali

Ali McCook

Policy Associate

Ali is an MSc student in Sustainability at Oxford with a background in law and PPE from ANU. Her research focuses on legal and financial frameworks for sustainable resource use and ocean protection.

Camila

Camila Llinás R.

Policy Associate

Camila is a Colombian environmental lawyer and MSc candidate at Oxford. Her research focuses on marine governance, biodiversity finance, and strengthening transboundary ecosystem governance through legal design.

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Martin Iuvaro H.

Policy Associate

Martin is an MSc student in Sustainability at Oxford and a Business Economics graduate from Universidad Torcuato Di Tella. His research explores environmental change, human mobility, biodiversity, governance, and social justice.

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Tiphaine Devanneaux

Storytelling Lead

Tiphaine is an environmental storyteller with an MA in Documentary Filmmaking from UCL. She produces films and communications for NGOs and international organizations, and coordinates production teams at major climate events including COP, UNOC, and Climate Weeks.

Katie

Katie Hitchcock-Smith

Principal Photographer

Katie is a writer and researcher pursuing a master’s degree in Heritage and Memory at the University of Aberdeen. Formerly a consultant for the U.S. Department of State, her work focuses on historical memory, disinformation, and public storytelling.

Andrea

Andrea Trevisan

Development and Partnerships Lead

Andrea is a strategy consultant at Xynteo with a master’s degree from Oxford. Her work focuses on carbon markets, nature finance, and conservation, including consulting for the UN on climate education and bioeconomy research in the Amazon.

Our Partners