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Rhode Island Sea Grant comings and goingsAlan Desbonnet has been named Rhode Island Sea Grant assistant director. Desbonnet has a long history with Rhode Island Sea Grant, working in the Sustainable Coastal Communities and Ecosystems (SUCCESS) Extension Program from 1989 to 2002, where he was instrumental in designing an interstate management plan with Connecticut and Rhode Island, and with Massachusetts and Rhode Island. He was also active in launching the nine-town Washington County Regional Planning Council, a group that collaborates on resource and economic planning and management issues. Previously, Desbonnet worked at the Mystic Marinelife Aquarium as an aquarist, researcher, and educator. Desbonnet also designed and implemented the college intern program for the aquarium during his tenure there. Since 1992, he has taught ecology as an adjunct at Eastern Connecticut State University. Desbonnet became managing editor for the Husbandry & Management Section of the international journal Aquaculture in 2002, and joined program management as program manager, where he oversaw Rhode Island Sea Grant’s education portfolio. Desbonnet has also served as secretary of the Stonington Shellfish Commission since 1991. “The Rhode Island Sea Grant program is a truly great program, and I feel honored to be selected to work with both staff and funded researchers at this new level. I look forward to a future with Rhode Island Sea Grant that builds upon existing excellence, but also soars to new heights,” Desbonnet says. “Alan’s extensive and diverse background in research, outreach, education, and administration has well qualified him to be assistant director,” says Barry Costa-Pierce, Rhode Island Sea Grant director. “He truly understands the goals and concerns of both our extension programs and our funded researchers and is working to make their jobs easier so they can focus on results for our constituents.” Austin Becker has joined the SUCCESS Extension Program as a coastal management extension specialist who is focusing on urban coastal issues. Becker, who recently received a master’s degree in marine affairs at URI, has a long history on the water, once owning and operating a yacht charter business, managing a marina, and serving on the municipal harbor management committee in Provincetown, Mass. He was also captain for five years of Rhode Island’s state flagship, the Continental Sloop Providence. “In my last job as a ship captain and teacher of marine education programs, I had a unique chance to provide environmental and leadership training to students—from kids to adults—in New England’s coastal communities. I enjoyed giving people the opportunity to learn from a new perspective—that of looking at the land from the water rather than vice versa,” Becker says. “Austin’s perspective as someone who has worked on the water and understands the issues will add tremendous value to meeting the needs of the people that we serve,” says Jennifer McCann, who has recently become leader of the SUCCESS Extension Program. McCann began her career in Washington, D.C., at the Center for Marine Conservation, now The Ocean Conservancy, building a constituency for the creation and management of the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, among other projects. She joined the URI Coastal Resources Center (CRC) in 1995 and worked on projects to build local capacity for coastal management first in Mexico and later on Aquidneck Island. “Jennifer’s experience here in Rhode Island and internationally is a tremendous asset to Rhode Island Sea Grant as we work to create programs that serve our local constituents while having broader impacts. Her ability to bring diverse constituents together has proved successful in Mexico, on Aquidneck Island, and in the urban communities of northern Narragansett Bay as we see the progress of the Metro Bay Special Area Management Plan,” Costa-Pierce says. Virginia Lee recently moved from leading Rhode Island Sea Grant’s SUCCESS Extension Program to assuming the leadership of CRC’s training efforts worldwide in nurturing the next generation of coastal managers. Lee joined Rhode Island Sea Grant in 1980, and led the development of coastal management policies and plans, hazard risk assessment and mitigation efforts, and one of the first programs for volunteer monitoring of coastal waters in Rhode Island—an innovative program that captured the interest of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and led to the promotion of volunteer monitoring nationwide. In her new role, Lee is focusing on designing and developing a training institute program this year in Thailand, where CRC has been working since the 2004 tsunami, and is also developing a certification program for Marine Protected Area professionals. “Virginia has done an extraordinary job of building the Rhode Island Sea Grant coastal outreach program into what is recognized as one of the best in the nation. Her combination of passion and wisdom in ensuring that our coastal resources will be available for future generations has made her a well-respected and inspiring leader in our program and throughout the national coastal management community,” Costa-Pierce says. Heather Rhodes is Rhode Island Sea Grant’s new fiscal officer. Prior to joining Rhode Island Sea Grant in 2004, Rhodes served as financial assistant for The Family Life Project in the College of Health and Human Development at Pennsylvania State University. Rhodes oversaw all financial aspects of this federally funded fiveyear collaboration with the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and brings that experience to Rhode Island Sea Grant, where she is responsible for all aspects of fiscal management, human resources, overseeing the program’s Knauss, Industry, and Coastal fellowship programs, and managing student help. Most recently, Rhodes has become more actively involved with Rhode Island Sea Grant’s Diversity Initiative, coordinating educational learning programs for the Nuweetooun School. “As much as I enjoy the fiscal management, I am grateful for the opportunity and encouragement to explore other aspects of Rhode Island Sea Grant in working with the Knauss Fellows and the students from the Nuweetooun School,” Rhodes says. “Heather not only keeps us in the black, but balances managing our many fiscal accounts and human resources, along with our educational programs, with a great deal of finesse. She truly cares about the students our programs serve, and helps to make their experience with Rhode Island Sea Grant a positive one,” Costa-Pierce says. Tracy Kennedy is the new program administrator. Prior to joining Sea Grant, Kennedy worked for 12 years in the Department of Family Medicine at Brown University/Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island before leaving in 1997 to be home with her children. “I really enjoy working at Rhode Island Sea Grant. Everyone has made me feel very welcomed,” Kennedy says. “Tracy is the new face and voice of the Rhode Island Sea Grant program administration office, and we are very pleased to have her join our growing family,” Costa-Pierce says. —Monica Allard Cox |
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