About Angelo

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Angelo Villagomez is an ocean advocate committed to advancing conservation solutions that honor Indigenous leadership, support coastal communities, and safeguard the world’s most vulnerable marine ecosystems. His work brings together Indigenous knowledge, Western science, community experience, and policy strategy to create equitable, durable approaches to ocean stewardship.

As a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, Angelo focuses on the intersection of conservation, community engagement, and Indigenous governance. His portfolio explores systemic environmental challenges—including habitat loss, declining fish populations, and the unequal impacts of climate change on island and coastal peoples—through a lens of justice and culturally informed conservation. He also serves on several advisory boards and acts as the ocean co-lead for the America the Beautiful for All Coalition, helping to elevate community-centered approaches to marine protection and access.

Angelo has contributed to major conservation milestones, including the designation and expansion of national marine monuments in the Pacific Islands and international efforts to strengthen shark protections. His work supported global commitments to protect at least 30% of the ocean within fully to highly protected marine areas.

He holds bachelor’s degrees in biology from the University of Richmond and environmental policy from Rollins College. Beyond his professional work, Angelo is passionate about scuba diving in warm tropical waters and is a self-proclaimed mediocre ukulele player.

Whether developing campaigns, mentoring emerging leaders, or co-founding and organizing Upwell: A Wave of Ocean Justice to make conservation accessible, Villagomez continues to redefine what ocean leadership looks like. His work is rooted in legacy—honoring mentors like Cinta Kaipat and his father Ramon G. Villagomez—and driven by a commitment to uplift Indigenous voices, protect sacred waters, and inspire a new generation of ocean avengers.

MEDIA

Profiles about Angelo

• Angelo Villagomez vs Trump's Ocean Policies, Rising Tide, The Ocean Podcast
• Underwater Overseer, Rollins 360
• Charting a New Course for Ocean Conservation, UR Now
• Redefining Conservation with Angelo Villagomez, As Spiders Do: From the University of Richmond Alumni Office

Fun Stories

• Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, NPR
• Coconut Crab is Frighteningly Large, Boing boing
• Convention or Catwalk? Inside the DNC Fashion Show, Newsweek
• For Islander Delegates, 8,000 Mile Journey to History The Philly Inquirer
• Let's Talk Tiki Bars: Harmless Fun or Exploitation? NPR

Indigenous-led Conservation

• Indigenous Ocean Voices Are Still Being Marginalised, Dialogue Earth
• A Biden Effort to Conserve Oceans is Leaving Out Indigenous Peoples, report finds, Grist
• When Indigenous Rights, Conservation, and a Very Lucrative Fishery Collide, Sierra
• The New Taboos, Nautilus Magazine
• Tide Turning As Indigenous Groups Help Steer Global Effort To Save Oceans, Radio France International
• The Pentagon Wants to Bomb the Hell Out of This Tiny Pacific Island, Huffington Post

Ocean Conservation

• The importance of the latest global biodiversity pledge, 1A
• SOS: Preserving biodiversity around the world, 1A
• How a New Database Can Help Protect the Ocean, Nautilus
• Q&A: What Does the 'High Seas Treaty' Mean for Climate Change and Biodiversity, Carbon Brief
• Trump Opens a Huge Marine Protected Zone to Commercial Fishing, New York Times
• Marine Protected Areas, Explained, Hakai Magazine
• America's Best Idea to Protect Its Ocean Has One Big Problem: It's Not Working, Vox
• We've Only Really Protected 2% of the Ocean, Earther
• Meet the Global Conservation Decision Makers You've Never Heard Of, Scuba Diving Magazine
• How Do Plastics Get to the Bottom of the Sea? WHYY, a public radio station
• A Troubling Discovery in the Deepest Ocean Trenches, The Atlantic

Mariana Trench

• Letter from the White House Council on Environmental Quality
• Off the Deep End, Outside Magazine
• Marianas Says U.S. Has Failed to Fulfill Ocean Monument Promises, New York Times
• Sea Change, NBC Nightly News, VIDEO
• Mariana Trench Marine Monument, KSPN

Deep-Sea Mining

• American Samoa Says No to Deep-Dea Mining. The Trump Administration Might Do It Anyway, Grist
• Deep-Sea Mining Interests Raise Alarms Among Mariana Trench Communities, Mongabay
• Activists Claim Over 60K Documents Against Deep-Sea Mining Submitted, Guam Daily Post
• Groups Collect Over 60K Petitions, Letters Opposing Deep-Sea Mining, Pacific Daily News
• Over 60,000 Petitions, Letters & Comments Against Deep Sea Mining, KUAM
• Trump Administration Eyes US Pacific Territories as it Moves Towards Deep-Sea Mining, Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Sharks

• Association of Pacific Island Legislatures 2015 resolution
• 'Shark Week' Fuels Shark Meat Feeding Frenzy at Restaurants, NPR
• Seized shark fins dumped in Pacific Ceremony, AFP
• Victory for vulnerable whale sharks at Pacific meeting, AFP
• British Virgin Islands establishing sanctuary for all shark species in its territorial waters, AP
• How We Can Protect Our Wandering Sharks, Forbes
• Obama Accused of undermining shark conservation, The Guardian

Even More Sharks

• Proposed federal shark-finning rule sparks state concerns, E&E News
• Tiny state big on shark protection, New Zealand Herald
• Shark fin demand drops as Chinese government cracks down on spending, Radio Australia
• Shark fin vendors report 82 per cent drop in sales after anti-corruption campaign, South China Morning Post
• Kids Help Save the Oceans With Shark Stanley, Mental Floss
• Go Scuba Diving in a Marine Sanctuary Without Leaving Your Desk, American Scientist
• Shark Fin Controversy, Surfer Magazine
• Shark Fin Soup is Going Extinct, VICE
• China's Anti-Corruption Crackdown is Saving Sharks, International Business Times
• Shark fin soup off the menu: China's crackdown on extravagant banquets gives sharks a second chance, The Independent
• Save the Sharks by Swimming With Them, Smithsonian Magazine
• Shark Week is Making People Go Nuts Eating Threatened Sharks, Jezebel
• Swimming With Giants, Mission Blue
• Across the world's seas, more refuges for predators, Conservation International
• Shark Summit: Bimini, The Bahamas, Coastal Angler Magazine
• Save the Sharks, Trinidad Express
• Ground Breaking Science Could Help Manage Sharks, The Bahamas Weekly
• Pacific Lawmakers Call For Ocean Wide Shark Protections, OceaniaTV
• International Organization On a Drive to Preserve the Lives of Sharks, CC6 Grenada
• Guam Among First to Protect Sharks, KUAM News

THINGS I WROTE & SAID

Much of my writing is hosted on the websites of The Pew Charitable Trusts and Center for American Progress.

Indigenous-led Conservation

• Indigenous-led Marine Conservation Should be the Future of Our Movement, Green 2.0
• Social Equity and the Need to Decolonize Marine Conservation in the Pacific Islands, Poplar & Ivy
• 5 Ways Scientists, NGOs, and Governments Can Support Indigenous-led Conservation, Center for American Progress
• Dreaming of a Protected Ocean, Smithsonian American Indian Magazine
• Applying Indigenous Wisdom to Deep-Sea Mining, DC Journal

Ocean Conservation

• Stars & Lighthouses: Marine Conservation That Blends Pacific Islander Wisdom and Western Knowledge, Mongabay
• The U.S. Terminated its 30×30 Conservation Plan but This Also Presents an Opportunity, Mongabay
• Why Conserving 30x30 is More Than a Numbers Game, Center for American Progress
• It Will Take 880 Years to Achieve UN Ocean Conservation Goals, Mongabay
• More Work Needed on MPAs, Pacific Daily News
• To Protect Whales, We Should Ban Offshore Oil and Gas, Not Wind Farms, DC Journal

Peer-Reviewed Scientific Papers

1. Parsons, E. C. M., R. MacPherson, and A. Villagomez. "Marine “Conservation”: You Keep Using That Word but I Don't Think It Means What You Think It Means." Frontiers in Marine Science 4 (2017): 299.
2. Bennett, Nathan J., Laure Katz, Whitney Yadao-Evans, Gabby N. Ahmadia, Scott Atkinson, Natalie C. Ban, Neil Dawson et al. "Advancing social equity in and through marine conservation." Frontiers in Marine Science 8 (2021): 994.
3. Grorud-Colvert, Kirsten, Jenna Sullivan-Stack, Callum Roberts, Vanessa Constant, Barbara Horta e Costa, Elizabeth P. Pike, Naomi Kingston et al. "The MPA Guide: A framework to achieve global goals for the ocean." Science 373, no. 6560 (2021): eabf0861.
4. Ahmadia, Gabby N., Samantha H. Cheng, Dominic A. Andradi-Brown, Stacy K. Baez, Megan D. Barnes, Nathan J. Bennett, Stuart J. Campbell et al. "Limited Progress in Improving Gender and Geographic Representation in Coral Reef Science." Frontiers in Marine Science (2021): 1334.
5. Johnson, Steven Mana‘oakamai and Angelo O. Villagomez. "Assessing the Quantity and Quality of Marine Protected Areas in the Mariana Islands." Frontiers in Marine Science (2022): 1986.
6. Pike, Elizabeth P., Jessica MC MacCarthy, Sarah O. Hameed, Nikki Harasta, Kirsten Grorud‐Colvert, Jenna Sullivan‐Stack, Joachim Claudet et al. "Ocean protection quality is lagging behind quantity: Applying a scientific framework to assess real marine protected area progress against the 30 by 30 target." Conservation Letters (2024): e13020.
7. Villagomez, Angelo, and Steven Mana’oakamai Johnson. "Disavowing the Doctrine of Discovery: Indigenous Healing, Decolonization, and Implications for Environmental Justice in the Pacific Remote Islands Area." Environmental Justice (2024).
8. Sullivan-Stack, Jenna, Gabby N. Ahmadia, Dominic A. Andradi-Brown, Alexandra Barron, Cassandra M. Brooks, Joachim Claudet, Barbara Horta e Costa et al. "Assessments of expected MPA outcomes can inform and improve biodiversity conservation: Case studies using The MPA Guide." Marine Policy 170 (2024): 106364.
9. Villagomez, Angelo, Kirsten Grorud-Colvert, Jenna Sullivan-Stack, and Steven Mana'oakamai Johnson. "Study protected waters newly opened up to fishing." Nature 644, no. 8077 (2025): 611.
10. Johnson, Steven Mana‘oakamai, and Angelo O. Villagomez. "Representation and Power in Ocean Conservation Documentaries: A Decolonial Analysis." Ocean and Society 3 (2026).