Harnessing Technology to Combat Illegal Fishing and Protect Our Oceans
MEETING FOR THE WEEK OF Aug 25, 2025
This Meeting at a Glance:
Program: Harnessing Technology to Combat Illegal Fishing and Protect Our Oceans
Speaker: Meaghan Brosnan and Namrata Kolla
Is this your first time visiting us? If so, welcome to our weekly online meeting! To complete our meeting, please continue reading from here to the bottom of this page. Each Monday, our week’s meeting is posted early in the morning, U.S. Pacific Time. These meetings are designed so that you can read and watch what we post anytime during the week. The entire meeting takes about 60 minutes to complete, with the video conference recording of the program being the bulk of the time. Note that you can easily read this meeting with your favorite device, so feel free to take our meeting on the go with you. Please also complete the attendance form at the bottom and leave a comment. Enjoy!
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Read and watch the content below in its entirety.
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Greetings Members, Rotarians, Friends and Guests:
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Thanks for joining our weekly meeting!
Member Elton Sherwin
WEEKLY FUNNY WITH SHAGS
We believe laughter is an important part of life, and we should all make time to laugh a little. This segment of our meeting is meant to tickle you just enough. These funnies are curated by member Steven "Shags" Shagrin!
Could Have Been Me! (Shags)
My friend, who's really short, had a party the other night and he only invited other really short people. It was just a little get together!
Inspiration
If you geek out on really advanced engineering and robotics, you'll like this one from a team at MIT that shows their progress with a robot that can play ping pong.
LEARN SOMETHING NEW
How It's Made
Watch this and you'll find out!
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PROGRAM: Harnessing Technology to Combat Illegal Fishing and Protect Our Oceans
SPEAKER: Meaghan Brosnan and Namrata Kolla
We bring you a new program every week on innovation, entrepreneurship, and education and how they contribute to service to others.
Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing is one of the most pressing threats to our oceans, devastating marine ecosystems and wildlife while undermining the livelihoods of sustainable fishers. For over two decades, WildAid has partnered with local leaders worldwide to improve marine protection and enforcement. In this talk, WildAid CEO Meaghan Brosnan and Skylight Head Namrata Kolla will explore how cutting-edge AI technology is transforming the fight against IUU fishing. Learn how Skylight’s AI-powered vessel detection platform is helping governments take decisive action—like the recent seizure of six illegal longliners in Panama—and discover what’s next for the future of ocean protection.
Meaghan Brosnan is a global expert in marine enforcement with more than two decades of experience combating illegal fishing and supporting communities in sustainably managing marine protected areas. A retired U.S. Coast Guard Commander, she spent two decades in service, including four years at sea enforcing fisheries law. Meaghan joined WildAid in 2017 as Marine Program Director and became CEO in 2024, following the organization's receipt of Prince William's Earthshot Prize in the "Revive Our Oceans" category.
Namrata Kolla (Nam) leads the Skylight program at Ai2 (Allen Institute for AI). She has held various positions in the conservation space for over ten years, including as Data Scientist for the Mayor of Seattle, as Research Consultant for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and in various roles at The Nature Conservancy. She has a Master's in Public Administration from the University of Washington, with a focus on the application of data science to improve public service.
Members and guests, please welcome Meaghan Brosnan and Nam Kolla!
To learn more, go to:
Learn about WildAid's marine program:
https://marine.wildaid.org/
More about Skylight's technology:
https://allenai.org/skylight
Mongabay's coverage of Panama's momentous seizure: https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/panama-conducts-large-illegal-fishing-bust-in-protected-pacific-waters/
To learn more about the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley, go to:
http://rotary.cool
Our Three Podcast Series
Our main program speakers are available as podcasts in addition to YouTube videos! Each week, they are available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, as well as many other platforms.
Our weekly podcast is now called:
Inspiring People - Stories of Innovation and Service
Inspiring Solutions for a Better World
Our original podcast, featuring some of the best of our previous speakers, is still available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and many other platforms.
Inspiring Women: Celebrating Trailblazers
Our newest podcast celebrates trailblazing women. It is available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and many other platforms.
UPCOMING PROGRAM RECORDING SCHEDULE
All of our guest speakers and programs are recorded live online over Zoom video conference. We welcome members and guests to join us in one of these upcoming recordings. Recordings are approximately 30 minutes long and are subject to change without notice.
Our online video conference room link for these recordings is always http://zoom.siliconvalleyrotary.com/. You are welcome to join us! Please note the timezone listed for all recordings is US Pacific Time (San Francisco, California, USA).
If you can’t join the live recording, please send your questions for an upcoming speaker to programs@siliconvalleyrotary.com.
THE ATTENDANCE SURVEY
Thanks for reading and watching this week’s meeting. You have two last things to do before you’re done.
We have a very short attendance survey below for you to fill out to record your attendance.
Visiting Rotarians, this is how you can get an email receipt to pass along to your club’s secretary as proof that you’ve attended our meeting if you need it for makeup.
Non-Rotarian Guests, we would love to see who is dropping by our meetings! This part is optional for you. If you think you may want to join our eClub at some point in the future, we would strongly recommend you fill out the attendance form as it will improve your chances of success for your membership application.
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