Few people have witnessed a project grow from its conception to the point of international acclaim. Even fewer have been at the helm throughout such an endeavor. Julie Packard helped create the Monterey Bay Aquarium and now, after more than 40 years, she's stepping down as executive director.
KAZU’s Elena Neale-Sacks sat down with Packard and wanted to know how many similar interviews she’s done since sharing her plans to leave the role.
The following conversation was edited for length and clarity.
Julie Packard: Well, thanks for having me for this interview, because KAZU and local radio is near and dear to my heart. And I actually haven't done that many. What I've had is a boatload of incoming well-wishing on LinkedIn and all the social media and from all our members and donors, which I really, really appreciate.
Elena Neale-Sacks: What was your favorite part of the job?
JP: I would say a real highlight was when we started working in the aquarium and assembling the diversity of design talent—the architects, the engineers, the sea water system designers, of course, exhibit designers, graphic designers—this whole array of people that were really dedicated to communicating with the public and also building a building on a very challenging site. So that was a super fun and creative time.
ENS: Can you think of a moment when you witnessed a visitor experiencing the aquarium and that moment of you watching someone else take it in just stuck with you?
JP: One that really sticks in my mind, I was coming inside the main aquarium lobby from the deck and there was a woman opening the door, coming out on the deck with her daughter. And she said, as she came out, she had this sort of awestruck look on her face and she said, ‘this is the first time my daughter has seen the ocean.’ That so stuck with me, especially because this family may live 20 minutes away from here. We have so many kids that come, so many families that come that have never been, you know, because they're working two jobs or they don't have transportation or parking here is expensive. And so we've been really working hard to lower those barriers with a lot of new free access programs. And that to me is the coolest thing when people have a chance to see something they've never seen before and they would not otherwise have access to.
ENS: That kind of leads into this a little bit, but how do you think the aquarium has changed Monterey, and this region more broadly, over time?
JP: When we had the idea to do an aquarium here, all about Monterey Bay, first off, we had no idea that it would become such a big deal, put simply, that we would become an internationally known name, an institution. We've had over 70 million visits to the aquarium. And so you just think of all the people from around the world that now know of this place. All of the awareness about what's here of value and worth protecting and the advocacy that we've done through building our conservation and science team, engaging with protection moves and engaging our public with the importance of that—really that's been a huge, a huge win for this region, because 40 years ago a lot of wildlife here was still in recovery. We have a lot more wildlife here than we did a few decades ago. So that's a wonderful story.
ENS: What are your hopes and fears for the future of ocean conservation work?
JP: Well, starting with the fear, or I’d call it a concern, more, is just that we're not acting with enough urgency to solve the problems that we know are accelerating—first and foremost, global climate change. And society is not taking action at the pace that we need to, and that is very concerning. I would say my hopes, though, are that we're going to continue to make progress in protecting and restoring the ocean, because the good news is the ocean is very resilient. It can recover given half a chance, and we see that here in Monterey Bay and beyond. And so, while there are impacts to the ocean that are going to be really tough to mitigate or to turn around, there are a lot of, you know, so many stories, certainly where wildlife can recover. And all the wildlife that our guests see thriving here, whether it's sea otters or brown pelicans or gray whales, those are all species that have recovered and are thriving now. So, the ocean can recover, and that's the thing we need to continue to work really hard on.
