The Texas Sea Grant College Program at Texas A&M University has hired three new extension specialists (l-r); Dr. Stuart Carlton, Dr. Andrew Ropicki and Christine Hale : Texas Sea Grant
by Cindie M. Powell, Texas Sea Grant
The Texas Sea Grant College Program at Texas A&M University has hired three new extension specialists; Dr. Stuart Carlton, Christine Hale and Dr. Andrew Ropicki. The trio brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the Texas coast.
Located on the Texas A&M University-Galveston campus, Carlton becomes the program’s new Healthy Coastal Ecosystems/Social Science Specialist, while Hale, the new Oil Spill Outreach Coordinator, and Ropicki, a Marine Economics Extension Specialist and an assistant professor in Texas A&M University’s Department of Agricultural Economics, will work from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.
“Texas Sea Grant is fortunate to bring on three accomplished scientists from diverse fields to enhance and strengthen our trans disciplinary extension team,” said Dr. Pamela Plotkin, the director of Texas Sea Grant.
“Texas Sea Grant is fortunate to bring on three accomplished scientists from diverse fields to enhance and strengthen our trans disciplinary extension team,” said Dr. Pamela Plotkin, the director of Texas Sea Grant. “These new positions were also created with the aim of building our presence within Texas coastal universities to capture the intellectual capacities there and build stronger foundations with the coastal communities they serve.”
The Healthy Coastal Ecosystems/Social Science Specialist is a newly created position. Carlton holds a bachelor of arts in English with a minor in ecology, evolution and organismal biology from Tulane University in New Orleans, a master of science in fisheries biology from the University of Georgia, and a Ph.D. in interdisciplinary ecology from the University of Florida.
His primary research interests are the human dimensions of climate change, natural resource controversies, and rare and imperiled species. He most recently served as a postdoctoral research assistant in the Natural Resources Social Science Laboratory at Purdue University and also worked for two years at Florida Sea Grant as a Program Assistant.
As the Oil Spill Outreach Coordinator, Hale also steps into a newly created position. Formerly an Extension Specialist and Stewardship Coordinator at the University of the Virgin Islands Sea Grant, where her activities included building public support to address “Ridge to Reef” and whole-ecosystem issues.
Hale holds has a bachelor of science in marine science from Millersville University in Pennsylvania, as well as a master of science in marine and environmental science from the University of the Virgin Islands.
The newly created Oil Spill Outreach Coordinator is one of four created recently created by the Gulf of Mexico Sea Grant programs as part of a new oil spill science education project. Each of the four specialists are located in a different state but will work regionally as a team to conduct workshops in coastal communities to share the results of oil spill research and produce oil spill-related publications and press reports.
The newly created Oil Spill Outreach Coordinator is one of four created recently created by the Gulf of Mexico Sea Grant programs as part of a new oil spill science education project. Photo: Ed Lallo/Newsroom Ink
The collaborative project is funded by a grant from the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative, an independent organization created in 2010 with funds from BP to support oil spill research in the Gulf. Texas Sea Grant received $288,000 from GOMRI over a two-year period for its portion of the Gulf Sea Grant oil spill education project. If the project goes well, the initial two-year grant can be renewed for up to 10 years.
The three other new oil spill specialists in the Gulf are: Larissa Graham at Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant, Emily Maung-Douglass at Louisiana Sea Grant and Monica Wilson at Florida Sea Grant.
Filling the Marine Economics Specialist position recently held by Mike Haby, Dr. Andrew Ropicki received his bachelor of science and master of science degrees in finance and a second master’s degree and Ph.D. in food and resource economics, all from the University of Florida.
He most recently worked as a Research Assistant in the Food and Resource Economics Department at the University of Florida, conducting research on the evaluation of rights-based fisheries management, the application of social network analysis techniques to tradable permit markets, the valuation of environmental and natural resources, and marine resource economics.
Texas Sea Grant is a unique partnership uniting the resources of the federal government, the State of Texas and universities across the state to create knowledge, tools, products and services that benefit the economy, the environment and the citizens of Texas. It is administered through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and is one of 33 university-based Sea Grant Programs around the country.
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