Anne Kapuscinski used her fellowship to raise awareness of issues related to genetically modified marine organisms (marine GMOs) and to develop oversight policies to manage marine GMO species. She developed a three-pronged approach to reform U.S. and international environmental governance. First, she developed recommendations for precautionary regulations that stress principles of ecology and transparency in decision-making and promote them to policy-makers. She also convened multi-stakeholder working groups to establish industry-wide protocols for ecological risk assessment and safety assurance. Finally, she produced policy briefings to enhance the accuracy and scientific credibility of public understanding of the issues.
Kapuscinski began an international program called Safety First to build scientific and policy capacity for environmental governance of genetically engineered fish and other organisms. The program focuses on developing and tropical countries, particularly Thailand, China, Korea, Singapore and Cuba. She and her colleague Dr. Wansuk Senanan, who is a fish conservation geneticist in Thailand, established a Steering Committee and began planning a training workshop that stressed the safety-first approach developed under this Pew Fellowship. The Executive Advisory Board and Steering Committee members of Safety First represent agriculture, aquaculture, environment, food processing and marketing, and marine biotechnology. https://csp.ucsc.edu/staff/