SEACOOS Board of Directors

Chairman of the Board
DR. JAMES G. SANDERS is Head of the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, a campus of the University System of Georgia. He received his B.S. from Duke University in Zoology and his Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina in 1978 in Marine Sciences, and then was a postdoctoral investigator at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Prior to his arrival in Savannah Dr. Sanders was on the faculty and served as Head of the Academy of Natural Sciences’ Estuarine Research Center in Maryland from 1981 to 1999, then was Chairman of the Department of Ocean, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Old Dominion University in Virginia.

Dr. Sanders is known for his interests within the area of trace element biogeochemistry: how trace elements are transported through coastal zones, transformed by chemical and biological reactions during transport, and how they can impact aquatic ecosystems. He serves as a consultant to federal and state science agencies and industrial groups in the U.S. and Europe. He is a member of numerous scientific societies, is President of the Southern Association of Marine Laboratories and has served on the Editorial Board of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry and the Estuarine Research Federation. He is Chairman of the Board of Directors of the SouthEast Atlantic Coastal Ocean Observing System (SEACOOS), a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Governors of the Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education, and on the Ecological Processes and Effects Committee of the Science Advisory Board of the Environmental Protection Agency. He is the author of over 70 scientific publications. His research funding has come from a variety of federal and state agencies (NOAA, EPA, NSF, MD DNR) and private organizations.

DR. PETER R. BETZER, Dean and Professor, College of Marine Science, joined the University of South Florida in 1971. 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 are 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 64 publications 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.

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 which was carried out on the 220 foot MOANA WAVE. 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.

DR. OTIS BROWN is currently the Dean of the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami; and a professor in the Division of Meteorology and Physical Oceanography. He is one of the world's experts in studying the ocean through observations obtained from instruments aboard earth-orbiting satellites. Dr. Brown has participated in research cruises throughout the world including the Atlantic and Indian Oceans and the Arabian Sea. He has over 100 scientific publications and has received national recognition from notable scientific organizations such as NASA, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Meteorological Society and the American Geophysical Union. As a professor at The Rosenstiel School Dr. Brown has mentored students, fellows and faculty and built one of the Nation's leading programs in remote sensing. As a member of the NOAA's Science Advisory Board, the Southeastern Universities Research Association Board of Trustees, and other high-level scientific steering committees, he has and continues to play an important role in leading our nation's ocean research program. As the Dean at the Rosenstiel School, Dr. Brown is also at the head of one of the nation's top oceanographic research and education institutions.

M. RICHARD "RICK" DEVOE is Executive Director of the S.C. Sea Grant Consortium, a position he has held since 1997. Rick also is a Research Associate of the Belle W. Baruch Institute for Marine Biology and Coastal Research at the University of South Carolina, and Associate Faculty Member of the Graduate Program in Marine Biology and Adjunct Faculty Member with the Marine Environmental Studies Graduate Program at the College of Charleston (SC). He earned degrees from Fairleigh Dickinson University, CUNY/City College of New York, and the University of Rhode Island.

Rick is a member of the Southeast Atlantic Coastal Ocean Observing System (SEACOOS) Board of Directors, and serves as program manager for the development of the Southeast Coastal Ocean Observations Regional Association (SECOORA). He also is a member of the organizing committee established by OceanUS to develop the National Federation of Regional Associations (NFRA).

Rick is Past-President of the Sea Grant Association (SGA), currently serves as chair of the SGA External Relations Committee, and has previously served as the Education Delegate for SGA’s Program Mission Committee. He co-chairs the SGA Coastal Hazards program planning committee, and serves on the SGA Marine Aquaculture program planning committee.

Rick also serves as the Principal Investigator for the South Atlantic Bight Land Use - Coastal Ecosystem Study (LU-CES), a multi-year, multidisciplinary study funded by the NOAA Coastal Ocean Program. He has published articles on aquaculture policy and management and land use-coastal ecosystem interactions, and has given over 85 presentations and lectures to a variety of organizations and groups on topics such as managed wetlands, land use – coastal ecosystem relationships, marine aquaculture policy and regulation, marine biotechnology, marine policy, marine science careers, and others.

Since April 1, 2001 DR. RUSS LEA has been serving as the Vice President for Research and Sponsored Programs at the UNC Office of the President. For six years prior to his recent appointment, he served as Associate Vice Chancellor for Research at North Carolina State University. In his current capacity, Dr. Lea serves as the Chief Research Officer for the Consolidated 16 Campus University of North Carolina System.

As vice president, Lea promotes research and sponsored programs across the complete spectrum of academic disciplines and interdisciplinary activities carried out by UNC campuses. He helps advocate for increased levels of external support from federal, state, and private sources, and works closely with the senior vice president for academic affairs and the UNC Board of Governors to ensure that campus research policies and procedures are consistent with the academic, research and public service mission of the University.

A primary role is to advise campus research offices on administration of research regulations, use of human/animal subjects in research, conflicts of interest and commitment, administration of technology transfer policies, and in the creation of new links with other universities and research organizations. The position also works with campuses to establish research priorities for the UNC Expansion Budget Request and federal funding requests.

Dr. Lea is a Professor of Forestry with an appointment at NC State specializing in forested wetland ecology. He is a native of New York and Holds Ph.D.s from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry and from Syracuse University. He has served on editorial boards for the Restoration Ecology Journal, and Environmental Science and Policy Journal. He serves on the boards of the NC Museum of Natural Sciences, Institute for Transportation, Research and Education (ITRE), the Small Business Technology Development Center (SBTDC), MCNC, and the Center for Transportation and Environment (CTE).

DR. HARRIS PASTIDES is Vice President for Research and Health Sciences at the University of South Carolina and Executive Director of the USC Research Foundation. He earned his B.S. in Biological Sciences from the University at Albany, and his Master of Public Health and PhD in Epidemiology from Yale University. Dr. Pastides has been a Principal or Co-Investigator on numerous government and industry funded research grants, results of which have been published in many peer-reviewed journals. He has also written and edited books and book chapters related to his research into potential environmental hazards, dietary factors, and pediatric health care. During his 24 years in academia, Dr. Pastides has been a Senior Fulbright Research Fellow at the University of Athens, a consultant to the World Health Organization, an advisor to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and an invited lecturer and teacher of short courses throughout the United States, Chile, Norway, Thailand, and the Ukraine. Most recently, he served on a National Institute of Medicine committee which provided recommendations about upper limits of nutrient intake for healthy adults.

DR. PAUL SANDIFER education includes a B.S. in biology from the College of Charleston (1968) and a Ph.D. in Marine Science from the University of Virginia (1972). After completing a 31-year career with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, including service as agency director under three Governors, in April of 2003 he moved to NOAA where he is Senior Scientist for NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science. He is located at the Hollings Marine Laboratory in Charleston, SC. Throughout his career, Paul has been involved in marine and natural resource policy and management, mission-oriented research and graduate education. He is author or co-author of numerous publications in aquaculture, coastal ecology, and marine biology and is a member of the graduate faculties of the College of Charleston and the Medical University of SC and an adjunct faculty member at the University of SC. Paul is an Honorary Life Member of the World Aquaculture Society, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a recipient of South Carolina’s highest civilian honor, the Order of the Palmetto. He has served on numerous boards and committees, including the Marine Board of the National Research Council, the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (Chairman), and the founding Board of Directors of the South Carolina Aquarium. Currently, Paul serves on the US National Committee for the Census of Marine Life and on the Board of Directors for the Southeast Atlantic Coastal Ocean Observing System. In July of 2001, he was appointed by President George W. Bush to the 16-member US Commission on Ocean Policy, where he chaired the Commission’s Stewardship Working Group which dealt with issues involving management of living marine resources and pollution. The Commission presented its final report, which includes numerous recommendations supporting the development and implementation of an Integrated Ocean Observing System, to the Administration and Congress on Sept. 20, 2004.

DR. HARVEY SEIM is an Associate Professor in the Department of Marine Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After receiving a B.S. in Marine Sciences and M.S. in Geology at the University of South Carolina he earned his Ph.D. in Oceanography at the University of Washington in 1993. After being a postdoctoral scholar at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution he joined the faculty at the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, where he was the lead PI of the South Atlantic Bight Synoptic Ocean Observing Network (SABSOON), one of the first NOPP-funded ocean observatory efforts. SABSOON was the first recipient of the NOPP Excellence in Partnering Award (2001), and led to Dr. Seim being a panelist on partnerships before the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy. Dr. Seim is currently the lead PI and Chief Operating Officer of SEACOOS and acts as the liaison between the Board and the SEACOOS Executive Committee.

Dr. Seim's research focuses on coastal and estuarine processes, with a special interest in turbulent mixing. His work has taken him to many coastal regions around the world, including the Baltic, Gulf of Mexico, Malaysia, Puget Sound, and the Bosporus, and he has authored more than 30 refereed publications. Within SEACOOS his group at UNC-CH has developed a stand-alone meteorological and oceanographic instrument package for use of fixed platforms operated on offshore towers and buoys and operates an ocean surface current mapping system along the Outer Banks.

DR. TONY WALDROP is Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Waldrop, a Columbus, N.C. native, was a Morehead Scholar receiving an A.B. in Political Science in 1974 and a PhD in Physiology both from the University of North Carolina. Prior to his current position, he was a professor of molecular and integrative physiology and Vice Chancellor for Research at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. At Illinois, he led the development of the University’s Research Park.

Waldrop's research has been supported by agencies including the National Institutes of Health and the American Heart Association (AHA). AHA selected him as an Established Investigator. At Illinois, Waldrop was a University Scholar, the premier recognition accorded to faculty by their colleagues. His research interests are hypertension, developmental neurobiology and the effects of hypoxia (low oxygen) on brainstem neurons. He has published more that one hundred peer reviewed journal articles and book chapters. His faculty appointment at UNC-Chapel Hill is as a professor of cell and molecular physiology. Vice Chancellor Waldrop is providing leadership to the Carolina North project.

Dr. Waldrop is also serving currently as President of the Triangle Universities Center for Advanced Studies Incorporated, serves on the Board of Directors for MCNC-RDI and on the INTRAH board. He is on the Executive Committee for the Council for Research Policy and Graduate Education of NASULGC.