Evan T Bloom is a Senior Fellow at the Polar Institute of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington. During his nearly 30 years at the Department of State, he served as Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and Fisheries and Director of the Office of Ocean and Polar Affairs. He led US Antarctic diplomacy as head of delegation to both the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting and the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources from 2006 to 2020. He also served as the lead US negotiator for the successful establishment of the world’s largest marine protected area, in Antarctica’s Ross Sea. He is a University Associate within the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Sciences, University of Tasmania.