Chair

Dr. James Pinckney

Director Belle W. Baruch Institute for Marine and Coastal Sciences Marine Ecologist at the University of South Carolina

Dr. Jay Pinckney is the Director of the Baruch Institute for Marine and Coastal Sciences at the University of South Carolina. He is also a Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and the Marine Science Program at USC in Columbia, SC. Dr. Pinckney is a marine ecologist who studies how marine ecosystems work, especially in terms of how they process energy derived from microscopic plants (phytoplankton and microalgae). Most of his work is conducted in estuarine and coastal waters, including the Gulf of Mexico, San Salvador Island in the Bahamas, North Inlet Estuary on the South Carolina coast, and Galveston Bay, Texas.

Council Members

Dr. Brean Duncan

Ecological Program Integrated Mission Support Services

Dr. Brean Duncan is a Geographer/Spatial Ecologist with the Ecological Program at NASA’s John F. Kennedy Space Center, Florida. His interests include investigating how anthropogenic influences alter natural terrestrial systems and their maintenance processes with a focus on mimicking the results of natural maintenance processes through land management application. This includes establishing baseline knowledge of resource abundance/distribution/pattern to guide effective land management practices for conserving/maintaining native fire dependent species habitats and favorable demography for their survival. He has considerable experience using remote sensing, geographic information system (GIS), and global positioning system (GPS) technology to design, implement, and automate spatial databases for ecological modeling and spatial analysis. This includes vegetation, landuse/landcover, habitat, fuels, fire event and fire regime mapping/modeling.

Jenn Eckerle

Deputy Director, Ocean Protection Council

Jenn Eckerle joined OPC in December 2016. As OPC’s Deputy Director, she is responsible for supervising staff and helping set the strategic priorities for coast and ocean policy in California. Before joining OPC, Jenn spent eight years as an ocean policy analyst for the Natural Resources Defense Council, where she conducted technical analysis and developed policy recommendations to advance ocean conservation. Prior to that, she was a coastal program analyst for the California Coastal Commission and the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission. Jenn earned an M.S. in Marine Biology from the Florida Institute of Technology and a B.S. in Biology from the University of Vermont.

Dr. Robert H. Richmond

Research Professor and Director Kewalo Marine Laboratory University of Hawaii at Manoa

Dr. Bob Richmond is a Research Professor and Director of the Kewalo Marine Laboratory, University of Hawaii at Manoa. His major areas of interest and expertise include coral reef biology, ecotoxicology, marine conservation biology, bridging science to management and policy, and the integration of traditional ecological knowledge with modern approaches to natural resource use and protection. He has worked in the Pacific Islands for 40 years and has mentored over 70 Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders in pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees in STEM disciplines. He has been the P.I. on four NSF Advanced Technological Education grants that serve the Pacific regional community colleges in American Samoa, the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and Palau, supporting efforts to increase the engagement of underrepresented minorities in STEM.

Dr. Curt D. Storlazzi

Senior Research Geologist, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey

Dr. Curt Storlazzi is a Project Chief Scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program and Research Associate with the University of California at Santa Cruz’s Institute for Marine Science. He presently leads a USGS team examining the geologic and oceanographic processes that affect the health and sustainability of coral reefs, and the hazard risk reduction they provide adjacent coastlines. He is on the steering committee for the US Coral Reef Task Force and regularly contributes scientific review for the US Global Change Research Program, the US Department of the Interior, the US Department of the State, the US Department of the Defense, and the US’s and other countries’ National Science Foundations.

NOAA Employee Members

Dr. LaToya Myles

Deputy Director, NOAA Air Resources Laboratory, Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Division

Dr. Latoya Myles’ research is interdisciplinary, involving both atmospheric chemistry and environmental science. She measures the exchange (i.e., emission and deposition) of gases and particles between the air and land in coastal and agricultural ecosystems. Many of her measurement studies focus on ammonia (NH3), the most abundant basic gas in the atmosphere and an important part of the biogeochemical cycle. The data collected from these studies is used to improve estimates of air pollution and provide information about the potential impact on human health and the environment.

Dr. Francisco “Cisco” Werner

Director of Scientific Programs and Chief Science Advisor NOAA Fisheries

Dr. Francisco (Cisco) Werner is the Director of Scientific Programs and Chief Science Advisor for NOAA Fisheries, a role he took on in June 2017. In this capacity, he leads NOAA Fisheries' efforts to provide the science needed to support sustainable fisheries and ecosystems and to continue our nation's progress in ending overfishing, rebuilding fish populations, saving critical species, and preserving vital habitats.