Oceans Website Stewardship & Advisory Board    

Dr. Noel Brown is on the Governing Board of the International Oceans Institute (IOI), Director General of the Waves of Change Campaign, and President of Friends of the United Nations. Dr. Brown also directs the IOI Ocean Governance, Policy, Law and Management Training in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Previously, he served as Director of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), North American Regional Office and U.N. Headquartes office for UNEP. He remains with UNEP as a Senior Consultant.

Dr. Brown is also Chairman of the International Institute for Peace Through Tourism, a founding member of the Aspen Global Change Institute and the International Council for Local Environment Issues, Chairman of the Rene Dubos Center for Human Environments, and he serves on the Board of Directors of the Global Rivers Environmental Educational Network, the Climate Institute, the Earth Communications Office, the Rainforest Alliance, Global Education Associates, Trust for the Americas, and of their environmental and educational organizations. Dr. Brown holds a B.A. in Political Science and Economics from Seattle University, an M.A. in International Law and Organization from Georgetown University, and a Ph.D. in International Law and Relations from Yale University. He has been a Visiting Professor at both U.S. and foreign universities, and has a number of publications to his credit, including serving as Editor of Ethics and Agenda 21: Moral Implications of a Global Consensus. Among the numerous awards acknowledging Dr. Brown’s service to the environment is his being honored with the 1998 World Academy of Arts and Science for Distinguished Public Service.

DR. PETER R. BETZER, currently serves as the President of the St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership a group that has been pivotal to the emergence of St. Petersburg, Florida as a center for marine research in the United States. He and his business colleagues are currently focused on expanding the cluster of technological businesses that are associated with this extensive marine research complex. Prior to joining the partnership in 2008,  Dr. Betzer served as Dean and Professor of The University of South Florida’s College of Marine Science. In fact, he joined USF’s marine science faculty in 1971 and spent 37 years in this academic setting.  Dr. Betzer received a B.A. in geology from Lawrence College (1964) and in 1971 was awarded a Ph.D. in chemical oceanography from the University of Rhode Island's Graduate School of Oceanography.  His research interests were in the realm of geochemistry, particularly the role of organisms in modifying the chemistry of seawater, pollutant transfer in the oceans, and chemical tracers.  Dr. Betzer is the author of over 60 scientific publications in journals and books and in 1985 was a co-recipient of the Distinguished Authorship Award which the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration annually awards for an outstanding contribution to the field of physical, chemical, or geological oceanography.  Dr. Betzer has presented invited lectures at the Shirshov Institute in the Soviet Union and in May 1987 was one of two plenary speakers at the Australian Marine Science meetings.  In 1990 and again in 1993 Dr. Betzer presented invited lectures at Oxford University in Oxford, England.  In 1996 he was invited by the Chinese government to visit China and provide a distinguished lecture at their Ocean University in Quingdao.  In 1997 he was appointed to a five-year term on the Scientific Steering Committee for Autosub by Britain’s Natural Environment Research Council.  Dr. Betzer was appointed to the Ocean Sciences Advisory Panel for The National Science Foundation (NSF) in 1986-89 and again in 1995-99.  In 1989 Dr. Betzer was selected for American Men and Women of Science and in 1990 he was elected to The University National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) Council for a three-year term.  In 1992 and again in 1994 he was elected Vice-Chair of UNOLS.  In 2002 he was appointed to the Joint Oceanographic Institutions (JOI) Board of Governors and in 2003 was appointed to the Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE) Board of Governors.  In 2005 Dr. Betzer was appointed to the Ocean Research and Resource Advisory Panel (ORRAP) a 15 member group that formulates recommendations to federal agencies.

Dr. Betzer has participated in numerous oceanographic expeditions including work in the North Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico and the North Pacific Ocean.  In 1986 and 1987 he served as the chief scientist for a five-university project in the North Pacific Ocean that studied the fluxes and interactions of atmospheric dust in the upper ocean.  In 1990 he was chief scientist on a cruise of R/V ENDEAVOR to the Sargasso Sea which was conducted as part of the Global Ocean Flux Experiment.

In 1983 Dr. Betzer was appointed chair of USF’s Department of Marine Science and has overseen the creation of a major marine science complex that includes nine agencies employing more than 1100 people.  Legislative initiatives have provided state support for: 1) a new 140,000 ft2 joint research facility that is shared with Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission; 2) ten new faculty positions; 3) the creation of a Center for Ocean Technology with a staff of fourteen professional engineers involved in sensor development; 4) construction of a Coastal Research Center (61,000 ft2) for the United States Geological Survey which has expanded to over one hundred people; 5) seven new technical positions, equipment and support monies to support the Coastal Ocean Monitoring and Prediction System (COMPS) that is deployed along the extensive West Florida Shelf; and 6) eight permanent engineering positions for an advanced technology initiative in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) that is focused on sensor development.  St. Petersburg’s business andcivic leaders have expanded upon the work cited above to help build a series of endowments which include: 1) seventeen fellowships for graduate students; 2) an Eminent Scholars Lecture Series; 3) an endowed program for post doctoral fellowships; and 4) an endowment (>$1,000,000) which supports graduate student mentors integral to The Oceanography Camp for Girls – a summer program to inspire eighth graders to consider scientific careers.  Most recently (November 2006) SRI International established a formal linkage with USF’s College of Marine Science and is building a new research facility (38,000 ft2) that is focused on developing new sensors for oceanographic research.  The expansion of SRI in St. Petersburg is being supported by almost 40 million dollars from state and local sources. At present the St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership is working with another high profile technology group that plans to open a new research facility in St. Petersburg that will provide a major interface with The University of South Florida’s Colleges of Marine Science and Medicine, SRI St. Petersburg and The National Center for Port and Maritime Security.

Dr. Betzer has received three important civic awards: 1) in 1991 he was one of three people who received a Community Betterment Award from the St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce; 2) in 1994 he was the single recipient of the St. Petersburg Bar Association's Liberty Bell Award; and 3) in 2000 he was one of two people who received a Community Service Award from Leadership St. Pete Alumni Association.

Dr. David Gallo is Director of Special Projects at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

He received a B.Sc and M. Sc. degree in geological science from the State University of New York at Albany and a Ph.D. in oceanography from the University of Rhode Island. In 1987 he was invited by Dr. Robert Ballard (discoverer of the wreck of RMS Titanic) to join his team at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution as the Assistant Director of the Center for Marine Exploration. 

In his present role, David works closely with scientists and engineers at the forefront of global exploration and discovery.  He has participated in numerous expeditions to the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, and to the Mediterranean Sea. He was one of the first oceanographers to use a combination of submarines and robots to map the undersea world.  He was a participant during an exploration of RMS Titanic and the German battleship Bismarck using the Russian MIR submarines and a participant in a recent expedition to find the lost WWII submarine USS Grunion.

In addition to ocean exploration, he is currently interested in understanding the relationship between humanity and the sea.  He was closely involved in the formulation and development of the Liquid Jungle Laboratory of Panama, a venture designed to better understand the interaction between people, tropical forests, and coastal marine habitats.

David is passionate about exploration and discovery and dedicated to communicating the importance of science and engineering to the public-at-large.  He maintains close working relationships with scientists, filmmakers, and media broadcasters (Discovery Channel, History Channel, and National Geographic, PBS).  He was instrumental in the development of the JASON PROJECT and is presently involved with the FIRST Robotics Competition, and with the National Underwater Robotics Competition.

David has lectured extensively both nationally and internationally, to audiences ranging from elementary school children through CEO’s and he has participated in numerous television and radio broadcasts.   

Dr. Reese Halter is an award-winning conservation scientist, father, best selling author, syndicated science writer, and TV documentary nature host.

Dr. Reese’s love of Nature began as a child. A springtime tree-planting ritual with his father and brother became his passion. He knew from the time he was a child that he wanted to be a tree scientist and went on to attain three university degrees including a PhD from The University of Melbourne, Australia.

Dr. Andrew Maner - is a scientist with many diverse ocean interests and ocean related experiences.

Upon earning his PhD in Applied Mathematics in 2000, Andrew began working as a physicist in the defense industry. In seven years, he worked on a variety of highly technical programs, including: developing and implementing physics-based algorithms and test scenarios for the calibration, checkout, and assessment of various spectrometers; consulting on sensor fusion, data throughput, and full image chain test plans for multi-sensor airborne imaging platforms; and developing custom sensor and archiving software for a wide variety of active and passive sensing systems.

From 2007 to present Andrew has been working primarily in the environmental industry, and has been involved in the commercialization and field testing of novel in situ sensing and power management systems, including unattended solar- and battery-powered sensing nets (chemical and physical parameters), field-deployable underwater and inline mass spectrometers, and imaging sonar-based port security applications.

Dr. Maner led a team to utilize full spectrum remote sensors to assess the damage from hurricanes Katrina and Rita and has developed a broad background of scientific expertise in science related applications for disaster response, mitigation, and reduction.
 

Dr. Frank Muller-Karger is the Dean of the School for Marine Science and Technology at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. He is also the Director of the international CARIACO Ocean Time Series Program and of the Institute for Marine Remote Sensing (IMaRS) at the University of South Florida in St. Petersburg.

His primary interests are science education and oceanographic research of coastal zones, continental margins, and the contributions of the marine environment to the global carbon cycle. His research utilizes observational time series, satellite data, high-speed computing and other new technologies to measure large-scale oceanographic phenomena.

Dr. Muller-Karger serves as a member of the National Research Council’s (NRC) Ocean Studies Board, on several NRC’s committees, on NASA’s Ocean Biology and Biogeochemistry Planning Committee, and is one of three U.S. representatives to the Scientific Committee on Oceanographic Research (International Council for Science). He received the Julius A. Stratton Award for Leadership in 2005, the Admiral James D. Watkins Award for Contributions to Ocean Research and Education from CORE in 2004, and previously NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Award for Outstanding Contributions and the NASA Administrator Award for Exceptional Contribution and Service for supporting development of satellite technologies for ocean observation. Dr. Muller-Karger has B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in marine science and a master’s degree in management.
 

Dr. David W. Randle is Managing Director of the International Ocean Institute Waves of Change Campaign, co-facilitaor of the Global Healing Initiative and president and executive director of the WHALE Center.

As the first ordained environmental minister in the nation, Dave has successfully coordinated a national campaign to preserve water, wildlife, and wilderness areas on behalf of the Pitkin County Commissioners, served as political and environmental advisor to John Denver and initial program development coordinator for John Denver's Windstar Foundation, was selected as one of the five lead off witnesses for hearings by the U. S. Presidential Commission for a Peace Academy & Conflict Resolution, and helped lead a team of 150 persons at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

During the Salt Lake Olympics, Dave worked with UNEP & URI to develop the Earth and Faith Leadership Development Program that was piloted in the Olympic Village in Salt Lake City and which received an Olympic Award and an award at the United Nations.

In 2007 Dave coordinated the International Days series at the Mahaffey Theater in St. Petersburg College and in 2008 as one of four Civil Society delegates for North America to the UNEP International meeting in Monaco for the Global Forum of Environmental Ministers.

In addition to environmental work, Dave has served as program development coordinator, administrator and faculty for both the Colorado Mountain College Wellness Program and the Aspen Academy of Martial & Healing Arts, and as Wellness Director and Administrative Staff for Deaconess Health Systems in St. Louis, MO, developed an environmental leadership course for the Claremont Graduate School of Theology and serves as Adjunct Ethics faculty at St. Petersburg, College.
 

Dr. David Vaughan is Executive Director of the Tropical Research Laboratory, Director of the Center for Coral Reef Research at the Mote Marine Laboratory in the Florida Keys and lead scientist for Earth Echo. A distinguished and well-published aquaculture scientist, he has designed, built, and operated a multitude of marine projects and businesses since he received his Ph.D in Botany and Plant Physiology from Rutgers University in 1982.

While at the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution (HBOI), Dr. Vaughan founded the Shellfish Culture Department in 1986 and the Aquaculture Division in 1991 and directed both until 2001. Also while at HBOI, he created the 60 acre Aquaculture Development Park, home to ACTED, the Aquaculture Center for Training, Education and Demonstration. Dr. Vaughan also created and was president of Oceans, Reefs and Aquariums Inc (ORA), the world’s largest marine reef hatchery.

He founded the Shellfish Farmers Association and was its Director for 4 years and has been on the Board of Directors of the Florida Aquaculture Association for 15 years.