Program: M.M.A., graduated 2015
Current Position: Coastal Resilience Coordinator, US Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources
Biography: With the help and support of the Marine Affairs faculty, I focused my MMA academic program and thesis research on tropical communities and adaptive capacity to change. After graduation, I was the NOAA Coral Reef Management Fellow for the US Virgin Islands where I developed non-profit partnerships and citizen science programs at the East End Marine Park in St Croix. I spent a year in Barbados as a Fulbright Fellow with the University of the West Indies studying the influence of data in coastal zone decision-making around the Caribbean. I have returned to the Virgin Islands and I work for the Department of Planning and Natural Resources division of Coastal Zone Management as the Coastal Resilience Coordinator. I work across the Territory to inform and facilitate measures that invest in local adaptations and prepare stakeholders for the impacts of environmental and climate changes through planning, restoration and policy. I supervise a NOAA Coastal Management Fellow in the updating of the St Thomas East End Reserves multi-use marine protected area management plan, and I manage projects with the University of the Virgin Islands and private contractors on historical and projected shoreline change and watershed-scale management of resources and land use.
How has your participation in the Marine Affairs Program helped to influence or shape your career? I use what I learned in the Marine Affairs program every day. Making responsible and timely decisions about coastal resources and addressing the root causes of the conditions that stress them, requires the understanding and use of the perceptions and values of different people.
What was the most memorable–or the most influential–course taken as a Marine Affairs student?
The balance of ocean science, law, policy and psychology in the required course list is great. I took an Independent Study for credit as well, and creating my own research curriculum was so valuable to navigate and hone my interests.