Biography

Jennifer McCann is the director of U.S. Coastal Programs at CRC and director of Extension Programs for Rhode Island Sea Grant. In her role, she is co-leader for the development and implementation of the Rhode Island Ocean Special Area Management Plan (Ocean SAMP), the first formally adopted Ocean Spatial Plan in the nation. She shares her knowledge and experience nationally. Jennifer led the national effort to develop monitoring protocols and modeling tools for improved management of offshore renewable energy. In addition, she leads statewide efforts to improve shellfish management and to minimize the impacts of coastal erosion and inundation. She began her career at the Center for Marine Conservation (CMC), now The Ocean Conservancy, building a strong and diverse educated constituency for the creation and management of the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. She represented CMC in the Dominican Republic to build the capacity of local nonprofits as institutions and implementers of integrated coastal management.