Program: M.M.A. graduate 1980
Current Position: Executive Director, S.C. Sea Grant Consortium, state government (which is unique in the Sea Grant network)

Biography:

Rick DeVoe joined the S.C. Sea Grant Consortium in 1980, its inaugural year, and has served as its Executive Director since 1997.  Rick is also a member of the Graduate School Advisory Board and the Marine Biology Council – Graduate Program in Marine Biology at the College of Charleston, and the Board of Advisors for the Center for Marine and Wetland Studies at Coastal Carolina University.  Rick serves as Co-Chair of the Board on Oceans, Atmosphere, and Climate with the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities (APLU), and is a member of the Sea Grant Association’s External Relations Committee, Executive Planning Team for the Governor’s South Atlantic (Ocean) Alliance, the S.C. Regulatory Task Force for Coastal Clean Energy, the Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition Think Tank, and the Charleston (S.C.) Resiliency Network Steering Committee, among other appointments and affiliations.  In 2016, he was inducted into The Citadel Academy of Science and Mathematics.  Rick’s professional interests focus on coastal and marine resource policy, state and regional coastal ocean planning and policy, ocean observing, marine aquaculture policy, coastal resiliency, science-to-application linkages, and science communication and education. 

MAF quote:         

“My training through the URI geography and marine affairs program exposed me to the actual reality of how coastal and ocean policy and management is shaped, and the role of science in its evolution.  Before then, I was naïve about the ‘real world’ of science, politics, and decision-making. My awakening at URI was crucial in my interest in working for Sea Grant, a science-based program that seeks to make a ‘real-world’ difference.”