Gator Halpern

  • Coral Vita

  • Co-Founded with Sam Teicher

  • 2017 Climate Fellow

Gator Halpern
  • Coral Vita

  • Co-Founded with Sam Teicher

  • 2017 Climate Fellow

bold idea

Reverse the rapid decline of global coral reefs by restoring degraded sites with a diverse range of climate change resilient corals through an innovative commercial farming model.

organization overview

Coral Vita brings dying reefs back to life by growing climate change resilient corals and transplanting them into degraded reefs. We work with the world’s leading coral scientists to incorporate breakthrough coral farming methodologies, which enable us to grow corals at rates up to 50 times natural speeds, and allow us to boost their resiliency against the warming and acidifying ocean conditions that threaten their survival. By creating coral farms in tropical countries all around the world, Coral Vita will help sustain reefs for generations to come.

Personal Bio

Gator is the co-founder of Coral Vita, a company that grows climate change resilient corals to revive dying coral reefs. Fully committed to bringing about a more harmonious relationship between society and the environment, Gator has worked on a wide range of different environmental projects, from urban development in Brazilian favelas to agricultural land-use change in rural South Africa. Prior to starting Coral Vita, he worked with indigenous communities in the Peruvian Amazon researching the impact of fish farming on deforestation rates. Gator co-founded Coral Vita while getting his master’s degree in environmental management from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, where he received Yale University’s first ever Green Innovation Fellowship. He has a B.A. in environmental analysis from Pomona College, and was a Fellow at the World Wildlife Fund’s Global Marine Program.

  • Organization/Fellow Location ?

    Our most recent information as to where the Fellow primarily resides.

    San Diego, United States

  • Impact Location ?

    Countries or continents that were the primary focus of this Fellow’s work at the time of their Fellowship.

  • Organization Structure ?

    An organization can be structured as a nonprofit, for-profit, or hybrid (a structure that incorporates both nonprofit and for-profit elements).

    For-profit

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