Chantalle Clarke-Samuels is currently the the Chief Executive Officer of the Belize Coastal Zone Management Authority and Institute (CZMAI). Before that she was Director and oversaw the technical/scientific research functions and coastal/marine monitoring programs of the Institute.  Chantalle works with policy makers and scientists in Belize, the wider Caribbean region and international countries in support CZMAI's mandate of sustainable use of coastal resources. Reducing user-conflict and competing interests for marine and coastal resources in Belize is a key component of her planning and management portfolio.

Prior to being promoted to this post in December 2013, Chantalle served as CZMAI's Coastal Planner, a position which she held since early 2010.  In her capacity as Coastal Planner, Chantalle spearheaded the development of Belize's first National Integrated Coastal Zone Management Plan (2013). This national plan includes coastal zone management policies and a spatially-explicit zoning scheme that integrates diverse human activities, sectors and government agencies.  Chantalle, supported by her coastal planning team, led the herculean planning effort to produce the Plan that involved more than 40 public stakeholder meetings to elicit feedback on several iterations of the national coastal plan.  She also led the writing and research enterprises supporting the Plan, which involved ecosystem capital valuation to express the benefits and tradeoffs associated with alternative management zoning approaches for the Belizean coastal zone.  To this end, Chantalle and her team worked closely with government agencies, NGO partners, civil society in Belize and a team of Stanford University postdoctoral researchers.  Chantalle has a Master of Environmental Management degree from Duke University's Nicholas School of the Environment and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Grinnell College.  She is married and has two sons.