Angelo Villagomez

I still remember the first time I watched Chasing Coral on Netflix almost ten years ago. Like many ocean advocates, I was transfixed. The visuals were stunning—time‑lapse coral bleaching, underwater photography that bordered on art, heroic scientists racing against time to document a crisis before it disappeared. The movie did what it was supposed to do: it made coral reefs feel immediate, fragile, and endangered. And yet, as the credits rolled, something felt wrong. It took me a while to put my finger on it, but eventually the discomfort resolved into a simple question: where were the people? Not the scientists. They were everywhere— wetsuits, GoPros, dramatic voiceovers about sacrifice and discovery. The people missing were the ones who live with coral reefs every day: the communities who fish them, pray with them, argue over them, and depend on them not just for livelihoods, but for identity. I remember talking to my friend and colleague Dr. Steven Manaʻoakamai Johnson about it. ...

The God Squad is using the self-inflicted Trump energy crisis to justify expanded Gulf drilling Without mentioning that hostilities were initiated by Israel and the Trump administration, Secretary Hegseth claimed that “recent hostile action” by the Iranian government has made expanded oil and gas drilling a national security imperative. He further argued that production in the Gulf of Mexico “provides a vital buffer, insulating our economy and military from foreign instability.” However, this claim of a national security imperative is baseless, relying on a series of mistruths. Hegseth’s justification is especially specious considering the Trump administration started the war with Iran and has been simultaneously causing global instability through tariffs, illegal wars, and moves that have undercut NATO. Hegseth suggested this action would “power our military and protect our nation,” but the U.S. Department of the Interior reports that offshore oil production is currently already at...

This fictional story was written in response to the recent Request for Information (RFI) to begin deep sea mining near the Mariana Trench, one of the most unique and fragile ecosystems on Earth, and my ancestral backyard. It follows the beats of every Hallmark Christmas movie ever made, where someone from the city goes to the countryside and has a change of heart thanks to the power of Christmas.  I had fun writing it. For those who want to learn more about this complex issue without the power of the Christmas Spirit, Friends of the Mariana Trench created a resource document to help the community understand the science, economics, and cultural implications of mining in the Trench. We encourage our followers to participate in the public comment period. The most impactful thing you can do is write a unique comment and submit it to the federal register . You can also sign our petition for individuals and our letter for organizations . Chapter One Miller blinked against the darkne...

Tide pooling with the Kelp Forest Alliance in Santa Barbara, California I wrote this introduction for the Kelp Forest Alliance's State of the World's Kelp Forests Report . I love kelp. I can usually smell it before I see it, that briny, earthy, seaweed scent that conjures childhood memories of running along the water towards piles of matted discovery. Where there is kelp, there are crabs, anemones, and on lucky days, whales and furry ocean animals. But it’s no secret that kelp is threatened today by human activities, and a warming ocean with lower nutrients and more sea urchins. Climate change makes it more difficult for kelp to grow in the places where it has grown for all of human history, and poor water quality and harmful fishing can damage not only their structure and function but the biodiversity associated with kelp forests. We know how important kelps are for ocean health and for people, too. They play a role in the identity and culture of Indigenous and coastal ...

The stories told on public lands and waters and the names given to these places reflect America’s values and self-identity. Telling the real stories of all Americans is patriotic and critical to maintaining democracy. A balanced portrayal of American history helps to cultivate informed and engaged citizens, understand the present, and prevent future atrocities. It is a form of democratic self-defense. But when democracies allow historical distortions to take root, it leads to the creation of nationalist myths that extremists can exploit. For much of American history, the roles of certain communities in national stories were suppressed and ignored even as they faced extreme acts of violence and discrimination. As a result, attempts to tell an accurate history of America are often incomplete and one-sided. But there has been progress. During the 20th century, the advances in equity for women, Native Americans, Black Americans, immigrants, and others extended to many aspects of life...

This piece was first published in  Mongabay . I’m in Nice, France, this week attending the   U.N. Conference to Support the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14 : Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development. If my   Tiaki Moana   colleagues have any say over it, stars and lighthouses are going to be a main topic of conversation here this week. Let me explain. During the  Tiaki Moana  conference in Tahiti last April, we discussed how maritime navigators use many tools to cross the ocean, ranging from stars in the night sky to lighthouses. Olivier Chassot, an official with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), kicked off a discussion of how  marine protected areas  (MPAs) and  marine other effective conservation measures  (mOECMs) — policy tools used by the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity to protect the ocean — are like lighthouses and stars, respe...

Speakers and presenters from the "Beyond 30x30" symposium during the 7th International Marine Conservation Congress in Cape Town, South Africa. This piece was first published in Mongabay . In his first week in office back in 2021, U.S. President Joe Biden   signed   a historic commitment to conserve 30% of America’s lands and waters by 2030. Two years later, the world agreed to a similar commitment with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. The initiative, commonly known as 30×30, has since become a rallying cry around the world for more and better conservation. But among an avalanche of other executive actions in the past month, President Donald Trump overturned the U.S.’s 30% commitment. Given a chaotic first few weeks, this action went largely unreported, but like many of the things happening in the U.S. right now, it will have global implications. This loss is significant. The U.S.’s 30×30 goal  enshrined  in the America the Beautiful for All initia...

Speaking at Our Ocean A few months ago, a colleague put me in contact with the editor of Smithsonian's Native American magazine.  She asked me to write something about my Chamorro culture and how that relates to ocean conservation and my career. I wanted to tell the story about how everyday Indigenous lessons learned growing up on an island developed my sense of values and ethics.  My first draft was just over 1,000 words, then the editor had me fill in more of the story, growing it to 2,000 words.  Then she told me I had to slash it back down to 1,000.  The result was  Dreaming of a Protected Ocean .  There's a longer version of this I'd like to write one day. I also wrote an article for the annual Our Ocean conference taking place in Greece this year.   Now Is the Time to Secure President Biden's Ocean Leadership Legacy  calls on the Biden administration to do the same things I also called on them to do in 2022 and 2023 . I will freely admi...