Marine Ecosystem Research Specialist - Coral Reef Ecosystem Division - Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center
Jeff Anderson is a Marine Ecosystem Research Specialist with NOAA Fisheries' Coral Reef Ecosystem Division (CRED) where he is a member of the Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) team and conducts benthic habitat surveys collecting coral reef ecosystem data for long-term monitoring and research. Prior to joining CRED, he worked on NOAA's Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary's Damage Assessment and Resource Protection (DARP) team stationed in Key Largo, FL. In that role, Jeff specialized in conducting benthic habitat surveys to document injuries to natural resources and to collect data for the long-term monitoring of vessel grounding restoration sites. Additionally, Jeff helped the Sanctuary maintain a network of 35 subsurface water temperature monitoring devices.
In addition to his work with NOAA, Jeff, a lifelong naturalist, is a freelance underwater photographer and has lived, worked, and dove throughout the southern Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea region. Highlighting nature's stirring beauty, his text and photographs have been featured in national and international SCUBA diving magazines and ad campaigns. Jeff shares his passion for the outdoors with others, narrating his experiences in multimedia presentations to photography, nature, and SCUBA diving clubs. With over 19 years of active SCUBA diving experience, he has been instructing others about the beauty of the underwater realm and led several dive charters. Jeff has volunteered repeatedly with the Cayman Islands' and State of Florida's Departments of Environment to assist their marine turtle migration studies as well as monitoring active marine turtle nesting beaches.
Jeff has been a NOAA Working Diver since 2008, NOAA Scientific Diver since 2000, and a PADI Master SCUBA Diver Trainer since 1997.
Graduate Student - Oregon State University
While attending the University of South Florida, Jeff majored in Geology with a primary focus in active tectonics. Upon completing his undergraduate degree, Jeff decided that pursing his graduate degree in active geology would be best suited in the Pacific Northwest.
Jeff is currently attending Oregon State University and majoring in Marine Geology & Geophysics in the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences (COAS) department. His primary adviser Chris Goldfinger is the director of the Active Tectonic & Seafloor Mapping Lab (ATSML).
Being part of the ATSML has given Jeff the opportunity to be a part of cutting edge research on the Cascadia subduction zone (CSZ), San Andreas transform fault, and the Sumatran Subduction zone. He hopes to use this new data collected on the Northern San Andreas Fault (NSAF) to study regional scale interactions of the NSAF and CSZ.
Graduate Student - Oregon State University, COAS
Bran is a graduate student at OSU in the Marine Geology program. She received her BS in Geology from OSU and has experience working with GIS. Bran’s thesis research involves investigating sediment cores and seismic data off from off-shore Sumatra to examine the recent earthquake history of the area via the turbidite record. On this cruise Bran assists with editing multibeam data and helping out with whatever needs attention at the moment. She is also a talented artist and on this project has been ‘doodling’ on the table built for the science computers.
Captain – R/V Pacific Storm - Oregon State University, Marine Mammal Institute
Ron (Yogi) Briggs is the Captain of the Research Vessel Pacific Storm. His love of the ocean took him to Kodiak, Alaska in 1975 where he began his 30-year career in the commercial fishing industry. Ron has fished for crab in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands, halibut in the Gulf of Alaska and salmon in Prince William Sound. He worked with Alaska and Oregon Congressional Staff members in fisheries management issues and served on the Board of the Alaska Observer Oversight Committee for six years.
Ron sold his owner share of the F/V Trailblazer in 2005 and spend the next year in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina destroyed the area. Helping to rebuild New Orleans’s City Park is something that he is very proud of and lifelong friendships were built that continue to this day.
Working on the ocean is what Ron loves to do. He looks forward to many travels aboard the Pacific Storm, seeing new sights, meeting new people and doing what comes naturally to him – driving the boat.
Principal Investigator - Research Fisheries Biologist - Northwest Fisheries Science Center
Elizabeth Clarke is a research fisheries biologist at NOAA's Northwest Fisheries Science Center. Dr. Clarke leads the AUV research at the Northwest Center. Her interests are in fisheries and fisheries-oceanography, particularly in understanding the environmental factors that affect fish populations. She is currently focusing her research on developing Autonomous Underwater Vehicles as routine tools for monitoring fish and their environment. She also is actively involved in using this technology to understand and map deep water corals and sponges. Elizabeth joined NOAA Fisheries in 1998 in the Office of Science and Technology where she focused on developing new science quality assurance and fisheries oceanography programs. Before joining NOAA Fisheries, she was on the faculty of the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science at the University of Miami. During sabbatical leave from the University, she was the associate director of the Ocean Studies Board of the National Research Council (NRC), National Academy of Sciences where she was also the study director for several congressionally mandated NRC studies including the Review of the Northeast Groundfish Stock Assessment. Elizabeth has a Ph.D. from UCSD Scripps Institution of Oceanography, an M.S. in fisheries biology from the University of Alaska and a B.S. in biological science from the University of California, Irvine.
Physical Scientist - U.S. Geological Survey
Jackson Currie is a Physical Scientist at the USGS Coastal and Marine Geology Program’s Marine Facility in Santa Cruz, CA. Jackson supports various field programs such as seismic fault mapping, bathymetric surveys and the deployment of ocean floor observatories. He has been at the Santa Cruz facility for 3 years. Prior to that, Jackson worked for the USGS Nebraska Water Science Center where he conducted bathymetric surveys and habitat mapping efforts on the Missouri River. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Water Science for the University of Nebraska.
Graduate Research Assistant - Oregon State University
Morgan grew up in Gaston, Oregon and received his BS in Geology from Oregon State University in 2004. After graduation Morgan worked with a consulting firm on a contracts for Chevron and then FEMA for three years. He then returned to OSU in the summer of 2008 to continue his education and in 2009 he started work on a MS in Marine Geology and Geophysics in Dr. Goldfinger’s lab in 2009. His research interests are in oceanic systems with an emphasis on near-shore processes. During the San Andreas Expedition, Morgan operates the sonar system, assists with troubleshooting the sonar gear and performs the required CTD casts.
Research Fisheries Biologist, Fishery Resource Analysis and Monitoring Division - Northwest Fisheries Science Center
Erica Fruh began working for the Fishery Resource Analysis and Monitoring Division of the Northwest Fisheries Science Center in 2001 as a member of the survey team. She spends the majority of the field season aboard chartered commercial fishing vessels conducting surveys of the groundfish resources on the West Coast as a field party chief. Erica researches the distribution of marine debris in the waters of the West Coast and life history characteristics of West Coast groundfish. Erica is also a member of the Division team developing AUV (Autonomous Underwater Vehicle) technology for monitoring groundfish in rocky habitats on the West Coast. She earned her B.S. in Marine Biology from Auburn University, and her M.S. in Marine Resource Management from Oregon State University.
Principal Investigator - Marine Geologist/Geophysicist - Oregon State University, Marine Geology Active Tectonics Group
Dr. Chris Goldfinger is a marine geologist and geophysicist with a focus on great earthquakes and structure of plate boundary fault zones around the world. He has experience with deep submersibles, sidescan sonar, seismic reflection, and other marine geophysical tools on over 30 oceanographic cruises over the last 20 years. He is currently working on great subduction earthquakes along the Cascadia and Sumatran margins, as well as the Northern San Andreas Fault off northern California using the evidence for earthquakes found in deep-sea sediments. Goldfinger is a Professor of Marine Geology and received his PhD from Oregon State University in 1994.
Lieutenant Commander - NOAA Corps
Russell Haner is a commissioned officer with the NOAA Corps. He is detailed to the Northwest Fisheries Science Center's Newport Oregon laboratory to provide administrative and logistic support. He has served aboard several of the ships in the NOAA fleet and has had the opportunity to work from the Antarctic to the Bering Sea.
Captain - R/V Pacific Storm - Oregon State University, Marine Mammal Institute
Donnie spent 30 years as a commercial fisherman in Alaska on the Bering Sea. He retired from Alaska and has run his own Dungeness crab boat in the Puget Sound for the past 3 years. Donnie was looking for a new adventure on the ocean when he signed on with the Marine Mammal Institute to work aboard the Pacific Storm.
Donnie holds a United States Coast Guard Masters license as well as an unlimited able bodied seaman license.
Research Geologist - U.S. Geological Survey
Sam is a Research Geologist in the U.S. Geological Survey Western Coastal and Marine Geology Team (WCMG), based in Santa Cruz and Menlo Park, CA. He currently designs, coordinates, and conducts research projects that focus on seafloor and benthic habitat mapping; coastal and marine geomorphology, stratigraphy, and geologic framework; and coastal earthquake and tsunami hazards. He helped plan and is the USGS lead for the multi-agency California Seafloor Mapping Program, and is Co-Chair of the Seafloor Mapping Action Team for the West Coast Governors Agreement on Ocean Health. He also serves as the USGS Western Region Oceans Coordinator and as Science Advisor to the California Ocean Protection Council and Southern California Coastal Ocean Observing System, and he represents USGS ocean science in numerous interactions with other federal, state, and local agencies. He has M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Geological Sciences from the University of Washington, joining the USGS in 1984 after an Assistant Professor stint at Washington State University. He served as WCMG Chief Scientist from 2003 to 2008.
First Mate/Watch Captain – Derek M. Baylis - Sealife Conservation
As the first mate/watch captain on the Derek M. Baylis, Sam’s core responsibilities are to ensure the safety of the passengers, and to keep the ship in top operational condition. Having now served in this or a similar role on a number of ships, Sam feels that none have impressed him more then this one. The fact that he can consistently exceed the expectations of our clients never ceases to amaze him, and this boat is one of the more exhilarating sailing boats Sam has been on in years.
As an employee of Sealife Conservation , the non-profit that operates the ship, Sam’s duties are fairly diverse when he is not directly involved with the ship. In addition to providing a platform for Sealife’s partners to conduct research on, Sealife also has its own projects such as marine debris tracking, a project in which Sam is directly involved. When Sam’s not working with Sealife Conservation he can usually be found surfing in Monterey, or racing sailboats in San Francisco.
Captain - Derek M. Baylis - Sealife Conservation
Mark is the Captain of the SRV Derek M. Baylis. He is a California native with a background in mountain guiding, surfing, riding and kayaking. He has a great appreciation and love for the natural beauty that surrounds us all on this planet. Mark is inspired, largely by his daughter, Sierra, to conserve our natural environment so that she, and future generations may have a world as a wonderful to explore and enjoy as he has been so privileged to.
Web Coordinator - Field Operations Specialist - NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration & Research
Emily McDonald is a Field Operations Specialist with NOAA’s Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, planning and coordinating many of OER’s exciting expeditions. She came onboard with OER in 2008 as a Knauss Sea Grant Fellow and her passion for exploration has kept her on since. Emily has degrees in Marine Science and Environmental Health Sciences from the University of South Carolina, and when she’s not out exploring the oceans, she’s exploring elsewhere on her bike.
Deck Hand, Crane Operator, Engineer and Cook - Pacific Storm - Oregon State University
Joe grew up in a small Indiana town, where his first job was selling tropical fish. The community Joe was raised in was also surrounded by lakes. Joe says that he has always felt a special connection to water. Joe has been a commercial crab-fisherman for 11 years and has traveled the entire West Coast from San Francisco to Destruction Island. Joe is currently in his 2nd year with Oregon State University and feels well suited to the R/V Pacific Storm as it is a retrofitted commercial fishing vessel. Joe has a vast understanding of all the vessel’s operations and can perform a wide array of tasks from minor electrical repair to industrial hydraulics and navigation.
AUV Project Manager for Coral Reef Ecosystem Division - U.S. GePacific Islands Fisheries Science Centerological Survey, Biological Resources Division
Jeremy C. Taylor is the Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) project manager for the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), Coral Reef Ecosystem Division (CRED). For the past year and a half CRED has been working with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and Northwest Fisheries Science Center towards developing a working AUV program for monitoring coral reef system in Hawaii and ground fish in the Northwest US and Northern California. His studies at Cornell University in the fields of marine science and computer science have lead him to five years as survey technician for the NOAA fleet and now to the emerging technology of AUVs. Learn more about the Coral Reef Ecosystem Division of the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center by clicking here
Deckhand - R/V Pacific Storm - Oregon State University, Marine Mammal Institute
David started work with the Marine Mammal Institute (MMI) in April 2009 as a maintenance worker on MMI’s vessels and assisted with mobilization for MMI projects. David joined the crew of the Pacific Storm in August of 2009 at the request of the captain and other crew. He quickly adapted to life at sea and has become an integral part of the crew of the Pacific Storm.
Principal Investigator - Research Fisheries Biologist - NOAA Northwest Fisheries Science Center
Waldo Wakefield is a Research Fisheries Biologist in the Fishery Resource Analysis and Monitoring Division at the National Marine Fisheries Service, Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Newport, Oregon. Waldo received a B.S. in Biology from Penn State University, an M.S. in Oceanography from Oregon State University, and a Ph.D. in Oceanography from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Before coming to work with NOAA Fisheries in 1999, he was on the faculty of the University of Alaska at Fairbanks, and later, at Rutgers University, where he served as Science Director for NOAA's West Coast and Mid-Atlantic Bight National Undersea Research Centers. Waldo is lead for the Science Center’s Habitat and Conservation Engineering group. His research in recent years has been directed toward obtaining a better understanding of what controls the distribution aabundance of fishes and other mobile animals in the ocean, with the intention of applying this information to the management of living resources. His contribution in this area is in the application of direct observation and advanced technology to the study of the distribution of demersal fishes, and their behavior and habitat associations. Waldo is also part of one of several, multidisciplinary groups linking the fields of marine geology and fisheries to study the habitat ecology of commercially important species of fish. As part of Oregon State University’s and Washington State University’s courtesy faculty, Waldo continues to pursue research collaborations and teaching interests with academic colleagues.
Information Technology Specialist, Fishery Resource Analysis and Monitoring Division - NOAA Northwest Fisheries Science Center
Curt Whitmire received a B.S. in Biology from Arizona State University in 1997 and a M.S. in Marine Resource Management from Oregon State University in 2003. Shortly after completing graduate school, Curt joined the Fishery Resource Analysis and Monitoring Division of NOAA's Northwest Fisheries Science Center. Curt provides technical support for programs in FRAM, conducting spatial analyses of various data associated with west coast groundfish surveys and assessments. Recently, Curt joined the Center's Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) team that is developing survey methods for habitats not accessible to traditional sampling gears. Curt also maintains a database on occurrences of deep-sea corals and other biogenic structure-forming invertebrates off the west coast of the U.S. In 2007, he co-authored the West Coast chapter of NOAA's first status report on deep-sea coral ecosystems.
Electronics Technician - Western Coastal and Marine Geology Team - U.S. Geological Survey
Since 2008 Rob Wyland has been an Ocean Engineer at the US Geological Survey’s (USGS) Marine Facility in Santa Cruz in support of field programs such as seismic fault mapping, bathymetric surveys, and deploying ocean floor observatories. Prior to working with the USGS, he worked at the Naval Postgraduate School’s (NPGS) Oceanography Department for 20 years. At NPGS he helped to develop and deploy prototype oceanographic instruments to measure physical coastal processes and arctic energy fluxes as well as being a teaching assistant in Fourier analysis, near shore processes, remote sensing and GIS. His educational background is a BS in Manufacturing Engineering from Boston University and a MS in Ocean Engineering from University of Rhode Island.
Senior Faculty Research Assistant - College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences - Oregon State University Active Tectonics Group
Ocean Engineer and Associate Scientist - Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
