Walter Munk Commemorative Lecture 

The Walter Munk Scholar Award, honoring Walter Munk’s legacy, is jointly sponsored and awarded by the Walter Munk Foundation for the Oceans (WMFO) and the Marine Technology Society (MTS). The Award is presented annually to a scholar currently enrolled in an undergraduate, graduate, or postdoctoral program. The recipient of this award will present a lecture on their work. 

Recipient – Ms. Marta D. Palacios, PhD Candidate, Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas (CICIMAR), Mexico

• Ms. Palacios has made outstanding contributions to the study of manta ray conservation and ecology. Ms. Palacios has assembled a diverse team, including local fishermen, to tag and track manta rays incidentally caught in the artisanal gill net fishery. In addition, she is working on understanding the large-scale seasonal movement patterns in relation to prey availability - key components for developing feasible conservation management plans. Her work will form a key piece in developing feasible strategies for reducing manta ray bycatch in Mexican waters.

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