Angelo Villagomez is a senior fellow at American Progress, where he focuses on Indigenous-led conservation. Born in a village on an island in the western Pacific Ocean next to the Mariana Trench and trained in Western scientific methods, Villagomez is a conservation advocate who uses Indigenous knowledge and values and the scientific method to address modern threats including habitat loss, fishing, and climate colonialism.
Villagomez worked for 14 years at The Pew Charitable Trusts, where he was an advocate for the designation and expansion of the national marine monuments in the Pacific islands and a policy expert on global shark conservation. During his tenure at Pew, he led efforts to secure an agreement at the International Union for Conservation of Nature committing governments to protect at least 30 percent of the ocean in fully to highly protected marine areas and contributed to The MPA Guide and the IUCN MPA Standards. He previously worked for the League of Conservation Voters, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Mariana Islands Nature Alliance.
Villagomez holds bachelor’s degrees in biology from the University of Richmond and environmental policy from Rollins College. He is a mediocre ukulele player and enjoys scuba diving in warm tropical waters full of fish.
Proposed National Marine Sanctuaries Provide a Pathway Toward Indigenous-Led Ocean Conservation
The United States can move closer to its dual goals of increasing access to nature for all Americans and protecting 30 percent of lands and waters by 2030 by approving and completing the designation of five new Indigenous-led marine sanctuaries.
In episode 4 of “Under The Pala Pala,” Angelo Villagomez from the Center for American Progress talks about what it’s like for Natives to work for green nongovernmental organizations in Washington, D.C., with Michaela Pavlat from the National Parks Conservation Association and Javan Santos from The Climate Initiative.
In episode 3 of “Under the Pala Pala,” six Native speakers came together at the 2022 National Diversity in STEM Conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to talk Indigenous-led conservation and how they bring their Native identity to the work that they do every day.
US Pacific Territories and the America the Beautiful Initiative Can Deliver Ocean Climate Solutions
The U.S. Pacific territories are vast—combined, their ocean areas are nearly twice the size of Alaska—and they are home to some of the world's largest marine protected areas. This region will be critical for achieving the Biden administration’s goals to combat climate change, protect 30 percent of lands and waters by 2030, and ensure access to nature for all Americans.
Executive Action vs. the Nature Crisis: Top 8 Opportunities President Biden Should Pursue To Meet His America the Beautiful Commitment
President Joe Biden committed to putting the United States on a path to conserve 30 percent of its lands and waters by 2030; here are eight major opportunities he must pursue immediately to achieve this goal.
Steven Johnson and Angelo Villagomez discuss their recent study which assesses the quantity and quality of marine protected areas in the Mariana Islands.
In this episode, Michael Khus from the Northern Chumash Tribal Council and Sol Kaho’ohalahala, chair of the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, discuss Indigenous healing through the ocean.
Assessing the quantity and quality of marine protected areas in the Mariana Islands
Angelo Villagomez assesses the quality of conservation efforts in the Mariana Islands, finding the importance of quality, quantity, and scale when determining effective conservation, especially in overlapping and contested jurisdictional authority areas.
In this episode, Violet Sage Walker from the Northern Chumash Tribal Council and Rep. Sheila Babauta from the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (D) discuss Indigenous women in ocean leadership.
Implementing Ocean Climate Solutions and Marine Protected Areas Require U.S. Leadership at the Our Ocean Conference
The seventh Our Ocean conference takes place this week in Palau, and the United States can lead global commitments on protecting nature that have stalled since the onset of the pandemic.
