David Obura is a Founding Director of CORDIO East Africa, a Kenyan non-profit research organization focused on coral reef and marine systems in the Western Indian Ocean. David has 30 years of research experience on coral bleaching in response to climate change and coral reef resilience and biogeography in the Western Indian Ocean, and bringing science into management and regional and global policy processes. David chairs the IUCN Coral Specialist Group and plays leading roles in global assessments of the UN’s biodiversity and ecosystem services platform, IPBES.