We are the Ocean
Sewage Alliance

The mission of the Ocean Sewage Alliance is to eliminate sewage and wastewater pollution from our ocean and waterways, advancing equitable and holistic actions that benefit people and nature.

We aim to achieve our mission by collaborating across sectors, synthesizing and sharing knowledge, developing solutions, and raising awareness. 

Our Goals

Our partners and members are engaged in working groups focused on the following goals:

1

Build the case for action

Build an intersectional, evidence-based case on the impact of sewage on ocean and human health to drive action and support decision making to eliminate wastewater pollution.
2

unite our voice

Be the uniting force for diverse, global representation in eliminating sewage and wastewater pollution, resulting in silo busting and catalytic awareness building.
3

empower champions

Serve as the preeminent knowledge and learning hub across sectors and scales, dedicated to holistic ocean and coastal communities health, to support sewage and wastewater pollution elimination.
4

facilitate and move funds

Expand and diversify funding and financing for innovative wastewater research, project design and implementation, delivering measurable change on the ground and lessons for the wastewater pollution agenda.

Who Are We?

How We Began

Marine conservationists have spent decades working hard to protect our oceans. But recent studies have revealed a problem that could be making all these efforts futile: ocean wastewater pollution. No one has been talking about this well-hidden phenomenon, mostly because society has long believed that the ocean could naturally manage human waste. In reality, the ocean has been suffering unseen consequences.

Since late 2019, a growing group of organizations have been gathering to create a collaborative space to tackle the threat of ocean wastewater pollution once and for all. Together, we call ourselves the Ocean Sewage Alliance, which officially launched on World Oceans Day in 2021.

Our LEADERSHIP

Larissa
Balzer
Sr. Network Coordinator
Ocean Sewage Alliance
Headshot of Kim Falinksi, Steering Committee member representing The Nature Conservancy
Kim
Falinski
OSA Steering Committee
The Nature Conservancy
Jasmine
Fournier
Executive Director
Ocean Sewage Alliance
Helen
Fox
Vice-Chair, OSA Steering Committee
Coral Reef Alliance
Katie
Heffner
OSA Steering Committee
Rare
Jos
Hill
OSA Steering Committee
The Pew Charitable Trusts
Stewart
Sarkozy-Banoczy
Chair, OSA Steering Committee
Precovery Labs
Kelly
Trott
OSA Steering Committee
Imagine H2O
Stephanie
Wear
OSA Steering Committee
Conservation International

Our Partners

Academic Partners

Deron Burkepile
Professor, Burkepile Community Ecology Lab
UC Santa Barbara
Katie Cramer
Associate Research Professor
Center for Biodiversity Outcomes, Arizona State University
Dr. Christopher Gobler
Director
New York State Center for Clean Water Technology and the Gobler Laboratory
Ove Hoegh-Guldberg
Professor, Marine Sciences
School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland
Ben Halpern
Executive Director, National Center for Ecological Analysis & Synthesis
UC Santa Barbara
Eric Hoek
Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering
Institute of the Environment & Sustainability, UCLA
Liz Hollaway
Project Officer, Sustainable Development Reform Hub
University of New South Wales
Joleah Lamb
Assistant Professor, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
School of Biological Sciences, UC Irvine
Shaily Mahendra
Associate Professor, Environmental Engineering
Institute of the Environment & Sustainability, UCLA
Mike Mezzacapo
Water Resources Outreach Specialist
Water Resources Research Center, University of Hawai'i Manoa
Kirsten Oleson
Associate Professor, Natural Resources & Environmental Management
College of Tropical Agriculture & Human Resources, University of Hawai'i Manoa
Kevin Orner
Assistant Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering
West Virginia University
Erin M. Symonds
Postdoctoral Researcher & MERA Investigation Project Manager
University of South Florida
Jacqueline Thomas
Environmental Engineer & Director of the Immersive Learning Laboratory
School of Civil Engineering, University of Sydney
Rebecca Vega Thurber
Professor, Microbiology
College of Agricultural Sciences & College of Science, Oregon State University
Amelia Wenger
CBCS Research Fellow & Associate Conservation Scientist
School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Queensland & Wildlife Conservation Society

OUR AFFILIATIONS

Sustainable Sanitation Alliance organization logoS2S Platform organization logoEnvironmental Protection Agency Logo
Ocean Sewage Alliance is a project of the Multiplier, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization which helps us protect and foster a healthy, sustainable, resilient, and equitable world. All contributions are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law. The tax-payer identification number is 91-2166435.
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