Lenard Milich studied under the world-renowned cetacean researcher, Dr. Ken Norris, at the University of California, Santa Cruz. His first direct exposure to the great whales was when he participated in the dissection of an adult female blue whale, washed up just north of that city. He became a team member on Project Circe in California, a scientific experiment to encourage captive bottlenose dolphins to have control of their environment. While he transitioned to earning a Bachelor’s in Meteorology, a Masters in Forestry & Environmental Studies, and a Doctorate in Arid Lands Resource Sciences, he never lost his interest in cetaceans. After a career in food security and household livelihoods with the United Nations, he is particularly concerned about the declining health of the world’s oceans and the impact of this on poor families dependent on marine production.