David Kroodsma

David Kroodsma leads the Global Fishing Watch research and innovation team, which includes data scientists, machine learning engineers and a network of research partners around the globe. Working collaboratively across the organization, Kroodsma guides his team to develop the new datasets, models and methods that underpin Global Fishing Watch’s platform and the scientific discoveries of its partners. He oversees the development of the organization’s key algorithms, including fishing, transshipment, and dark target algorithms, and has co-authored more than 30 peer-reviewed papers with other experts in the research network.

Prior to joining Global Fishing Watch, Kroodsma worked across disciplines to address global environmental challenges. He spent the first part of his career working in a laboratory at the Carnegie Institution of Washington studying the carbon cycle, and later went on to the Skoll Global Threats Fund where he conducted research on the combined risks of water scarcity and climate change. Kroodsma also worked as a data journalist for Climate Central, a U.S.-based research organization, and authored an award-winning travelogue about his bicycle journey across the Americas and the need to raise awareness about the growing climate crisis.

He earned a master’s degree in earth systems and a Bachelor of Science in physics from Stanford University, focusing his graduate work on modeling Earth’s carbon cycle.