Evan Bloom

A lawyer and senior diplomat, Mr. Bloom joined the Wilson Center as a Senior Fellow in January 2021. He was one of the U.S. Government’s foremost experts on Arctic and Antarctic governance and foreign policy, as well as oceans policy. During his nearly thirty years at the Department of State, Mr. Bloom served as Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and Fisheries (8/2019 to 9/2020) and Director of the Office of Ocean and Polar Affairs (1/2010 to 12/2019 and 9/2020 to 12/2020). He led U.S. Antarctic policy as head of the U.S. delegations to the annual Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings and the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources from 2006 to 2020. He also served as the lead U.S. negotiator for the successful establishment of the world’s largest marine protected area, in Antarctica’s Ross Sea. He led four official inspections of foreign facilities in Antarctica. With regard to the Arctic, he helped establish the Arctic Council, negotiating its initial rules and documents in 1996. He supervised U.S. representation in the Council from 2006 to 2020. He led the U.S. delegation to high seas treaty negotiations (biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction) at the UN from 2016-2020. He chaired the Executive Committee of the federal Extended Continental Shelf Task Force and supervised State Department representation at the International Maritime Organization and the International Seabed Authority. In addition, he specialized in space law (including as negotiator for agreements related to the International Space Station and global navigation systems) and international humanitarian law. He also served as Counsel to the State Department’s Inspector General and was a member of the federal Senior Executive Service.

Mr. Bloom is a Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a Fellow of the Explorers Club. He received the Commandant’s Distinguished Public Service Medal from the U.S. Coast Guard in 2020 and the U.S. Antarctica Service Medal in 2007. He holds degrees from Princeton University (A.B.) and Columbia Law School (JD).