Education

University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, England

9/2002 - 7/2005        

Ph.D.                           Major: Natural resource and environmental management

Dissertation: Performance Indicators of Marine Protected Area Management: A Case Study on Stakeholder Perspectives in the Egadi Islands Marine Reserve (Sicily, Italy) 

Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

8/2000 - 5/2002       

M.E.M.                        Major: Coastal Environmental Management

Thesis:  Small-scale Sicilian artisanal fisheries: Opinions of artisanal fishermen and socio-cultural effects of marine protected areas 

University of San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA

9/1995 - 5/1999       

B.A.                             Major: Marine Science, Minor: Environmental Science 

Professional Experience

Fishery officer at Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

August 2017 - present, Rome, Italy

  • Developed and undertook projects and provided technical policy expertise focused on effective and efficient fisheries policy and management, overarching socio-economic impact analysis related to changes in the provision of fisheries ecosystem services, marine spatial planning, climate change adaptation, livelihood development, and fishing community vulnerability.

  • Provided scientific advice to fisheries managers on the impacts of fisheries management to providing technical and policy advice to countries on a wide range of fisheries management issues to providing technical advice on endangered species conservation, each of which were centered in highly charged and conflict ridden environments spanning multiple sectors and cultures.

  • Provided technical advice on ecosystem service assessment and economic valuation to NGOs and national government entities in Africa, South America and Asia and led the development of a toolkit of ecosystem service assessment and valuation methodologies.

  • Analyzed the compatibility of sustainable blue growth standards with codes of conduct for sustainable marine wildlife viewing to advise the development of a sustainable whale watching industry in the Mediterranean Sea.

  • Worked with partners to better understand the socio-economic effects of sustainable fisheries certification programs on individuals in the harvesting and processing sectors.

Social Science Researcher - Université de Bretagne Occidentale, AMURE/LABEX/IUEM 

January 2016 - August 2017, Brest, France

  • Conducted ecosystem services research on socio-economic and cultural ecosystem services provided by the oceans and coastal ecosystems.

  • Provided advice and on-site research support for the socio-economic valuation of mangrove, seagrass and salt marsh ecosystem services at partner sites in Madagascar, Mozambique, Ecuador and Indonesia for the Global Environment Facility Blue Forests Project

  • Worked with an interdisciplinary research team as part of the H2020 research project "ECOPOTENTIAL" to develop conceptual and analytical models and analysis that assess and monitor the provision of ecosystem services in the Caribbean and Mediterranean Seas using Earth Observation, remote sensing and in situ socio-economic data. Current focus is on the provision of ecosystem services (e.g., whale watching tourism, shipping) provided by cetaceans in the Pelagos Marine Sanctuary off the coast of France, Monoco and Italy.

  • Active member of the ICES Working Group on Resilience and Marine Ecosystem Services

Affiliate Professor - University of Washington School of Marine and Environmental Affairs

May 2012 - 2016, Seattle, WA

  • Advised Master's and Ph.D. students on their research projects.

  • Served on thesis and dissertation committees

Social Scientist - NOAA - Alaska Fisheries Science Center

November 2009 - December 2015 (6 years 2 months) Seattle, WA

  • Lead scientist for conceptualizing and executing non-economic social science research and data collection for NOAA in Alaska.

  • PI and co-PI on numerous research projects.

  • Supervised a team of 2 to 5 research assistants and graduate students at a time.

  • Responsible for writing grant proposals and managing project budgets, timelines and grant reporting requirements. Between 2010 and 2015 received over $1.9 million in research funds.

Notable accomplishments

  • Developed community well-being indices that incorporate social, fisheries and environmental variability data for analyzing of the effects of changes in social structure and fisheries resource availability associated with fisheries management changes or other large scale environmental changes (e.g., climate change) on fisheries-dependent communities, and monitoring the sustainability and well-being of fishing communities over time.

  • Development of online non-technical visualizations and documentation of the social characteristics and levels of fisheries dependence of communities across Alaska

  • Core team member for development of the NMFS Climate Science Strategy

  • Lead chapter author for the 2013 National Climate Assessment)

  • Co-lead of a NCEAS working group (2016-2017) aimed at understanding the long term biological, oceanographic and socio-economic effects of the Exxon Valdez oil spill on the Gulf of Alaska social-ecological system and how that knowledge can be used to improve predictions of future response to natural and anthropogenic changes.

Fish and Wildlife Biologist  - US Fish and Wildlife Service

February 2006 - November 2009 (3 years 10 months) Carlsbad, CA

  • Major activities included developing, assessing, reviewing, or providing recommendations on habitat conservation plans, restoration and revegetation projects, and research studies for fish and wildlife species and their habitat.

  • Coordinated with partner agencies, non-governmental organizations, and stakeholders, and represent the FWS at meetings for controversial, multi-agency large-scale or regional projects.

  • Regularly negotiated with persons or agencies with differing interests and points-of-view.
    Evaluate and analyze projects concerning the ESA, FWCA, NEPA, CEQA, NCCPA, CWA, MBTA, and other State and Federal laws, guidelines, policies, and administrative regulations.

  • Developed recommendations for avoidance and minimization measures for project impacts for resource protection, mitigation, and enhancement of habitats and ecosystems upon which numerous listed, proposed, and candidate species and species of special concern depend

Marine Section Board - Society for Conservation Biology

2006 - 2009 (3 years)

  • Participated in strategic planning for the Marine Section of SCB

  • Sat on the steering committee and chaired the Communications committee for the first International Marine Conservation Congress in Washington D.C. in 2009 and second Congress in Victoria, B.C. in 2011

  • Managed the Marine Section website content

Research Associate - University of Portsmouth - Centre for the Economics and Management of Aquatic Resources

January 2005 - July 2005 (7 months) Portsmouth, United Kingdom

  • Independently performed field research on environmental impacts of dredging on local fishing communities and tourism; analyzed data and wrote reports; designed maps; and, managed and designed biological databases.

Project coordinator and lead researcher - Istituto di ricerca sulle Risorse Marine e l’Ambiente

October 2002 - June 2005 (2 years 9 months) Palermo Area, Italy

  • Designed and implemented two focus groups and three survey instruments to determine fisher opinions of three marine protected areas in northwestern Sicily.

  • Developed methods for research: questionnaires, unstructured interviews, focus groups, the analytical hierarchy process, and institutional analysis (methods were used with fishers, residents, tourists, managers, researchers).

  • Supervised and trained three surveyors to conduct interviews.

  • Coordinated with local communities and cultural groups living near and within a large Mediterranean marine protected area.

  • Analyzed efficiency of protected area interpretation techniques in educating a variety of community groups.

  • Analyzed survey data and developed recommendations to increase management efficiency and success in established marine protected areas.

Marine Protected Area Consultant and Policy Director - Orca Relief Citizens Alliance

May 2002 - June 2005 (3 years 2 months) Friday Harbor, WA-

  • Provided social scientific support and expert advice in the design of marine protected area proposal to protect orca whales in Washington State and how to involve relevant stakeholder groups (e.g. NGOs, fishers, whale watch companies, residents) in the creation of the proposal.

  • Designed and implemented surveys on the effect of fishing vessels on the prey of Orca whales.

  • Designed and maintained organization's website.

  • Coordinated volunteer recruitment for field activities.

  • Assisted with volunteer supervision during 2002 summer field season for Orca whale movement monitoring.