Interview: David McGuire, Sea Stewards

A marine biologist and ocean advocate, David McGuire, MPH, is the founder of the Ocean Health and Shark Conservation nonprofit Sea Stewards. As a Research Associate of the Department of Aquatic Biology at the California Academy of Sciences, David is conducting a shark research program that includes population studies, movements and fisheries impacts. 

As Captain, Dive Master and filmmaker, David has explored the oceans on numerous sailing voyages, producing media with an emphasis on ocean awareness. Educated in Marine Biology, he holds a masters degree in Environmental Health and has worked in education and public health at the University of California at Berkeley for over a decade.

David is the writer, producer and underwater cinematographer of several award winning documentaries focusing on sharks. David recently  produced a new documentary on the sharks of San Francisco Bay and has recently worked as cameraman on feature films such as 180 South with Patagonia and A Beautiful Wave. 

Through Sea Stewards he catalyzed the coalition leading to the passage of  the California Shark Conservation Act in the State of California,the Shark Conservation Act, AB 376. The Shark Stewards project is dedicated to ending shark finning and the shark fin trade.  

David is author of numerous articles and fiction and nonfiction books, including Surviving the Shark.  He sits on several boards of non-profits, including the San Francisco Green Film Festival and the Cordell Bank Marine Sanctuary Association. He has received numerous awards for his work ,including an award for Journalism with KQED for the investigative story Sea Horse Sleuth, the 2011 Hero of Marin Environmental Stewardship Award,  and an Emmy award for his work on the documentary Reefs to Rainforests.