Carrie Manfrino

Carrie Manfrino is an American oceanographer and president/director of research at the Central Caribbean Marine Institute. She also serves as an associate professor at Kean University, focusing on coral and climate change. Manfrino earned her PhD in Marine Geology and Geophysics from the University of Miami under Robert N. Ginsburg, with additional geology degrees from Colorado institutions.

She founded three organizations: the Central Caribbean Marine Institute, Little Cayman Research Centre, a tropical marine research facility, and Coral Reef Conservancy. Her honors include Fulbright Scholar, National Defense Science Fellowship, American Geological Institute Minority Scholarship, Oris Sea Hero, and Fellow of the Explorers Club.

Manfrino's research began in 1998 during an extreme El Niño event causing global coral mortality. She investigates corals' ability to survive climate change, showing they can recover in areas with low human impact, highlighting the importance of local protection.

In 2015, as a Fulbright Scholar in Maldives, she studied coral reefs' potential to mitigate sea level rise, comparing Caribbean and Indian Ocean atolls. Her work supports nature-based solutions for climate change, emphasizing healthy reefs as critical for the Maldives' resilience. She integrates physical, ecological, and societal factors, inspired by Elinor Ostrom's community resource management theories.