New England Aquarium Head On Her Love For The Natural World

Nigella Hillgarth has been the president and CEO of the New England Aquarium since May 2014. Under her charge, the aquarium recently launched its Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life.

Hillgarth is a former zoologist who worked at the Tracy Aviary in Salt Lake City and UC San Diego's Birch Aquarium at Scripps before coming to Boston. She said her move from research to public engagement was spurred by global warming and encouraging people to be better stewards of the earth.

We met with Hillgarth at the aquarium to talk about her early love for animals and what she believes the mission of the aquarium should be.

Nigella Hillgarth, president and CEO of the New England Aquarium. She tweets @nhillgarth.