WALTER B. JONES MEMORIAL AWARDS
Coastal Steward of the Year
Edith Chase
Ohio Coastal Resource Management Project
Kent, Ohio
Edith Chase, president and founder of the Ohio Coastal Resource Management Project, a nonprofit citizens’ organization established in 1982, has worked with government leaders to identify coastal resource issues and played a critical role in mobilizing proponents for comprehensive coastal management legislation. Her dedicated efforts have resulted in policy changes, public awareness, and improved stewardship of coastal resources and watersheds of Lake Erie and the Great Lakes.
Excellence in Local Government
Erie MetroParks
Jonathan Granville
Director
Created in 1968, Erie MetroParks is a special district of the State of Ohio. Under state law, it is charged with natural resource conservation, environmental education, and outdoor recreation in Erie County, Ohio. Located midway between Toledo and Cleveland along the Lake Erie shore and including the southern-most point on the Great Lakes, Erie County is home to about 80,000 residents. The MetroParks manages over 3,000 acres of mostly natural open spaces. The MetroParks places great emphasis on the development and use of strategic partnerships with other units of government, nonprofit organizations, businesses, and individuals to further its public service mission.
City of New Bedford, Massachusetts
Frederick M. Kalisz, Jr.
Mayor
Under Mayor Kalisz' leadership, New Bedford, Massachusetts has made great progress in cleaning up and redeveloping the city's numerous brownfields to support environmental, economic and social benefits. While expanding capacity for the Port of New Bedford, the city has incorporated community goals such as public access and environmental restoration. The city has established extensive partnerships with the public and private sectors and was designated as a national "Portfields" pilot. New Bedford serves as model for coastal communities dealing with the clean up and reuse of brownfields to meet multiple community goals.
Excellence in Coastal and Marine Graduate Study
Caitlin Mullan Crain
Brown University
NOAA Graduate Research Fellow
Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve
Caitlin Mullan Crain is a coastal community ecologist pursuing her doctorate at Brown University and a graduate fellow at the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve. For her graduate dissertation, Ms. Crain is studying marsh plant dynamics in estuaries. She aims to understand the natural distribution patterns of marsh plants so we can better manage human impacts and conserve these critical habitats. She also works on rocky shores in Maine and Patagonia, Argentina where she studies the interactions between organisms and their environment with the goal of improved coastal management.
Katherine Ann Eschelbach
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Katherine Eschelbach is a 2004 graduate of the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill with a masters degree in regional planning. For her masters project, she conducted the statewide natural hazards risk assessment for North Carolina, which played a fundamental role in advising statewide policy formulation for the North Carolina natural hazards mitigation plan. Ms. Eschelbach also led a project to analyze flood damage prevention policies at a river basin scale for the Department of City and Regional Planning’s Hazard Mitigation Planning Clinic at UNC.
R. Heath Kelsey
Arnold School of Public Health
University of South Carolina
R. Heath Kelsey is a PhD candidate in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the University Of South Carolina Arnold School Of Public Health, where he earned his Masters Degree in 2000. Mr. Kelsey’s research interests include Coastal Zone Management, Environmental Policy, Bacterial Pollution, GIS, Environmental Modeling, and International Development. His current research is developing forecasting and predictive models for fecal coliform bacteria in shellfish harvest areas using remotely sensed precipitation estimates and digital forecast data. The models will assist resource managers and regulators to evaluate and predict the closure of harvesting due to nonpoint source pollution events from stormwater.
Kevin C. Weng
Stanford University
Hopkins Marine Station
Kevin C. Weng earned a masters degree in oceanography at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and is presently working on a doctorate in marine biology at Stanford University. He is investigating the habitat, range and behavior of salmon sharks and white sharks by tracking them with satellite tags. He hopes to improve understanding of the biology of these animals and, in the process, lay the groundwork for better management.
NOAA EXCELLENCE AWARDS FOR COASTAL AND OCEAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Volunteer of the Year
Charles Max Schenk
Gloucester, MA
Charles Max Schenk, a 33-year resident of Gloucester, Massachusetts, has worked with a number of regional organizations to develop partnerships and advocacy coalitions for environmental and cultural causes. His involvement with conservation initiatives began in 1998 as a volunteer for the Friends of Parker River National Wildlife Refuge in Newburyport, Massachusetts. Mr. Schenk has played leadership roles for the National Estuaries Program affiliate - the Eight Towns and the Bay Committee, the Massachusetts Bays Estuary Association, Cultural Alliance of the Lower Merrimack Valley, and Gloucester’s Conservation Commission. He is currently Director of Outreach for the National Wildlife Refuge Association in Washington, D.C.
Nongovernmental Organization of the Year
Surfrider Foundation
Michelle Kremer, Esq.
Interim Executive Director
The Surfrider Foundation is a non-profit grassroots organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of our world’s oceans, waves and beaches. 2004 marked the Surfrider Foundation's 20th anniversary. Founded in 1984 by a handful of visionary surfers, the foundation now maintains over 40,000 members and 60 chapters across the United States and Puerto Rico, with international affiliates in Australia, Europe, Japan and Brazil.
Excellence in Promoting Diversity in Coastal or Ocean Resource Management
Dr. William Aalbersberg
Institute of Applied Science
University of the South Pacific
Dr. William Aalbersberg received his doctorate in chemistry from University of California at Berkeley. In 1984, he accepted a lectureship in chemistry at the University of the South Pacific in Fiji. His interests in the environment led him to chair the main Fiji nongovernmental organization and explore the use of participatory approaches in conservation. Since 1999 he has been director of the University's Institute of Applied Science which has allowed him to develop a team of young scientists to assist indigenous Fijians to develop management plans and monitor their inshore marine resources. As part of these efforts, community members work with government, industry and nongovernmental organizations to identify threats to the coastal environment and take action to counter them.
Seth Macinko, Ph.D.
University of Rhode Island
Marine Affairs Department
Dr. Seth Macinko, a professor of marine affairs at the University of Rhode Island, has made significant contributions to ensure that issues of environmental justice and diversity are integrated into decisions on coastal and ocean resource management. His work has included ensuring that the interests of local indigenous groups in Alaska were considered in developing community development quotas and in reviewing the Exxon-Valdez Oil Spill Trustees Council’s Gulf of Alaska Ecosystem Monitoring Program. His ongoing research and teaching focuses on community diversity and fisheries management.
Excellence in Business Leadership
Taylor Shellfish Farms
Shelton, WA
Taylor Shellfish Farms is a fourth generation family-owned company with 370 employees farming shellfish on 9,000 acres of owned and leased tidelands in Puget Sound and Willapa Bay, Washington. Blessed with some of the best shellfish growing water in the world, Taylor Shellfish Farms has been committed to sustainable growing practices and preserving clean water for more than 100 years. The company recently developed an "Environmental Code of Practices" to guide every aspect of their tideland farming. Serving on a number of boards and committees, Taylor owners and managers work closely with governments and their industry partners to further coastal stewardship.
Excellence in Coastal Zone Management
Elizabeth A. Blair
Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve
Ms. Blair has worked as a biologist for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation since 1985, managing the Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve, a network of sites dedicated to long-term research and education. Since 1992, she has also served as Regional Marine Habitat Manager and has overseen a variety of estuary-wide projects, including submerged habitat mapping, habitat restoration, and training for resource managers and the public. She has a Master of Forest Science in ecology and resource management from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and a bachelor of science in biology from Tufts University.
