Jake Asher, Chief Scientist
Jake Asher is a marine ecosystem specialist with NOAA's Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center Coral Reef Ecosystem Division in Honolulu, Hawai`i. He is originally from Washington DC, but spent many summers along the eastern seaboard where his interest in marine science grew. He has a Bachelors of Science from the University of Michigan, and a Masters of Environmental Management from the Duke University Nicholas School of Environmental and Earth Sciences. From 1995 – 2002, Jake was involved in a variety of marine science research programs, including phytoplankton/cyanobacteria research at the Heinz Steinitz Marine Biological Laboratory in Israel, a fellowship at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences examining coral disease frequencies, a Sister Exchange Program between the Chugach National Forest and Magadan Marine Preserve in Russia, and had a contract as a NOAA Fisheries Observer in Alaska. Jake’s current interests focus on large-scale benthic habitat assessments using towed-diver surveys. For the current cruise, he is working as Chief Scientist, the CRED Scientific Liaison to CNMI, and a member of the towed-diver team.
Russell Reardon, Logistics Lead
Russell Reardon graduated from the University of Florida in 1994 with a B.S. in Forest Resources and Conservation with an Emphasis in Aquatic Resources. He then gained diverse research experience in the wetlands of North Florida, the piney uplands of Georgia, and the barrier islands of Maryland's Eastern Shore before settling in the Florida Keys where he spent 12 years working in the marine environment for the National Park Service and NOAA. In 2007, Russell moved to Hawai`i to fill the position of NOAA Resource Protection Specialist for Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. He has held his current position with NOAA Fisheries Coral Reef Ecosystem Division since November 2008. Reardon is the Cruise Operations Lead, as well as a member of the ARMS Team (Legs I and II) and the Oceanography Team (Leg III).
The Rapid Ecological Assessment Team
Jeff Anderson
Jeff Anderson is a Marine Ecosystem Research Specialist with NOAA Fisheries' Coral Reef Ecosystem Division (CRED) where he is a member of the Benthic team. In this role, Jeff conducts benthic habitat surveys collecting coral reef ecosystem data for long-term monitoring and research. On this cruise to Wake Island and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, he is part of the Rapid Ecological Assessment (REA) Team responsible for counting, measuring, and assessing disease condition of hard coral colonies. On previous CRED cruises, he participated as a member of the Towed Diver team which conducts benthic habitat and fish surveys over large spatial scales (~ 1.5-2 km per dive). In addition to his work with the Benthic team, Jeff is a member of CRED’s Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) team collecting coral reef ecosystem data beyond SCUBA diving depths (up to 1,500 m). Prior to joining CRED, Jeff 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, he specialized in conducting benthic habitat surveys to document injuries to natural resources and collecting 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. Jeff has been a NOAA Working Diver since 2008, NOAA Scientific Diver since April 2000, and a PADI Master SCUBA Diver Trainer since October 1997.
Paula Ayotte
Originally from California, Paula moved to the Big Island of Hawai`i in 2002 where she attended the University of Hawai`i at Hilo. After graduating with a major in Marine Science with a minor in Biology, Paula moved to Oahu and joined the Coral Reef Ecosystem Division (CRED) team as a marine ecosystem research specialist. Of the 10 RAMP cruises Paula Ayotte has participated in as a member of the REA fish team during the past 6 years, half have been to the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. During this cruise, she will again be counting and sizing fish, as well as occasionally trying to emulate them.
Emily Donham
Marie Ferguson
Marie Ferguson graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a B.A. in Environmental Science and began her scientific diving career working for the Partnership for the Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans (PISCO) at the Marine Science Institute in Santa Barbara. She moved to Oahu in 2006 to pursue her interests in tropical marine ecological research and has been working for CRED on both the marine debris and fish teams. This is her 2nd research cruise visiting the Mariana Archipelago where she will be conducting fish surveys. When Marie isn’t out at sea she enjoys running, hiking, backpacking, biking, surfing, camping, traveling and getting in the ocean as much as possible.
Erin Looney
Erin Looney grew up in Georgia and received a BS in Biology and a BS in Ecology from the University of Georgia. Erin has studied and worked in the field of coral reef ecology on the coast of Alabama, Bermuda, the Florida Keys, the Bahamas, and the coast of Georgia. After deciding this field was her passion, Erin returned to UGA for a MS in Environmental Health Science where she concentrated on the microbial aspects of coral disease. Immediately after graduation, Erin moved to Hawai`i to work for NOAA’s Coral Reef Ecosystem Division as a marine ecosystem specialist, specifically studying coral populations and disease. This is her first trip to the Mariana Archipelago.
Kaylyn McCoy, Team Lead
Kaylyn is from North Carolina and is on the Hi`ialakai as a member of the fish team to assess reef fish populations. She works for the Coral Reef Ecosystems Division of the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center in Honolulu, HI. She received her B.S. in Zoology from North Carolina State University, and has done research on the coral reefs in Australia and the Turks and Caicos Islands. She has been in Hawai`i for five years, and this is her second trip to the Wake Island and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. She likes long walks on the beach, PBR tall boys, and getting caught in the rain.
Steve McKagan
Steve McKagan is a coral reef ecologist for the PIRO Habitat Conservation section of NOAA. After attaining an Environmental Science degree at Huxley College WWU, he went on to get an Environmental Science and Management Masters at the Bren School at UCSB, with an emphasis in oceanography. Before graduating Steve started working for the Prezelin lab at UCSB modeling the effects of ultraviolet light on phytoplankton, developing data management tools in IDL and helping to manage lab activities. In 2007 Steve left Santa Barbara for Saipan to begin a new career with the Division of Fish and Wildlife as a Fisheries Biologist where he worked until the summer of 2009.
Along with assisting in long-term monitoring programs and management activities, Steve is also leading a variety of scientific projects in the CNMI including the L50 ‘Size Matters’ Campaign, the 2011 CNMI reef resiliency and bleaching response plan and baseline setting program, and the CNMI harbors biosecurity project to name a few.
Ryan Okano
Rodney Withall, Team Lead
Rodney works as a phycologist for the Coral Reef Ecosystem Division. Originally from Ontario, Canada, Rodney began scuba diving 16-years ago in the frigid Great Lakes and somehow was inspired to become a marine biologist. He has a BS in marine biology from the University of British Columbia and an MS in biology from the University of New Brunswick where his research focused on the biodiversity and molecular systematics of marine macroalgae. He has previously worked at developing DNA-based detection methods for harmful algal blooms and as a dive instructor on Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Since joining the Coral Reef Ecosystem Division, Rodney has dived around the pacific including Wake Atoll, Guam, and American Samoa.
Jill Zamzow
Jill Zamzow is originally from northern California, and she graduated from the University of California at Santa Cruz with a B.A. in Marine Biology in 1993. In the kelp forests of Monterey she fell in love with diving, quickly becoming a Scientific Diver and Rescue Diver and logging 400 dives in her first year of certification. After graduation, Jill spent several months volunteering for research diving projects, as long as they included food and boat transportation. She moved to Hawai`i in 1995, and received a M.S. (1999) and Ph.D. (2003) in Zoology from the University of Hawai`i at Mānoa. Her graduate and postgraduate research (always involving both fish and SCUBA diving) has taken place on many small Pacific islands, as well as Australia, Jamaica, Panama, and most recently, Antarctica. She began working for the Coral Reef Ecosystem Division in 2010, and currently holds the position of Reef Fish Researcher, as well as serving as scientific liaison to the main Hawaiian Islands and the Western Pacific Fisheries Management Council. While Jill has participated in numerous cruises to the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument and main Hawaiian Islands, this is her first time to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. When not counting fish or exploring long-term trends in reef fish population data, she enjoys running marathons, backpacking, paddling outrigger canoes long distances, and snuggling on the couch with her fiancé and their two cats.
The Towed-Diver Team
Edmund Coccagna, Team Lead
Edmund has spent the past five and a half years working for CRED and is currently part of the benthic team. On this cruise he’ll be assessing benthic habitat over large distances while being pulled behind a small boat like a fishing lure at depth, also known as towboarding (hopefully nothing bites). This is his second trip to Wake island as a towed diver. He went to school at the University of Hawai`i at Hilo for Marine Science and graduated in 2004. He enjoys spending time at sea, long walks on the beach as the sun goes down, seashells, and lighthouses.
Kevin Lino
Kevin is originally from Pennsylvania and moved to Hawaii in 2003. He has worked with the CRED since 2005, primarily as a fish towed diver but has also worked with several other teams. Currently, he acts as the permit coordinator for the division (when not in the field) and is attempting to add a stereo camera survey system efficiently to the towed diver method during this cruise. His favorite dive sites in the Marianas are Supply Reef and Zealandia Bank. He is looking forward to seeing ‘Steve’ again at Farallon de Pajaros.
Noah Pomeroy
Typically involved in oceanographic research, Noah is mixing it up this cruise as a fish survey towed diver so he doesn't lose touch with his marine biology roots. Alongside another towed diver surveying the benthos, Noah is pulled behind a boat at a depth of about 50 ft while holding onto a board and documenting observations of large (>50cm) fish. A member of the CRED team since 2005, Noah has participated in several marine debris survey and removal cruises in addition to RAMP cruises during which he has fostered his interest and experience in oceanographic research, including the passive acoustic investigation of coral reefs. Noah received a BS in aquatic biology from the University of California Santa Barbara in 2004 where he also learned to SCUBA dive and began his career in marine science.
The Oceanography Team
Oliver Vetter, Team lead
Oliver was born and raised in Cardiff in Wales, U.K. and after recieving his undergraduate degree in Oceanography with Physics from Southampton University in England he found work as a technician in the University of Hawai'i School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST). Subsequently he completed his masters in Physical Oceanography from the University of Hawai'i which focussed on large wave attenuation over reefs in Hawai'i and Guam. He has been with CRED since 2005 and in addition to his scientific and field work he is the CRED's scientific liaison to Guam.
Frank Mancini
Frank Mancini started working with CRED in 2006 as a member of the oceanography team. Frank’s primary duties during this cruise include programming, deploying and recovering oceanographic instrumentation, collecting and processing water samples and managing the large volume of data collected by CRED’s suite of oceanographic instruments. Frank graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park in 2002 with a BS in Environmental Science & Policy and a specialization in Coastal Science.
Daniel Merritt
Daniel Merritt is on the cruise working with the Oceanography Team. This is his 4th RAMP cruise to the Mariana Archipelago. Merritt has been working with CRED since 2004, first as a graduate research assistant from 2004-05, and as an ocean engineer since 2006. Merritt works with and supports many technical design and process projects at CRED including ARMS, CAU’s, and oceanographic instrumentation used on this cruise. He received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo in California, and a M.S. in Ocean Engineering with an emphasis on coastal processes at the University of Hawaii at Manoa in Hawai`i.
The ARMS Team
Kerry Grimshaw, Team Lead
Kerry graduated from Eckerd College in 2002 with a B.S. in Marine Science – Biology. She gained experience in coral reef ecology while working for Dry Tortugas National Park and the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Kerry joined the Coral Reef Ecosystem Division (CRED) of NOAA Fisheries Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center over 3 years ago. This is her 8th research cruise with CRED and 2nd trip to Wake Island, Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Kerry is a member of the benthic ecology team and is working on the Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures (ARMS) project during this cruise. The goals of the ARMS project on this cruise is to recover the ARMS that were deployed during the 2009 cruise, process them to examine biodiversity of cryptic marine invertebrate utilizing taxonomic identification and genetic sequencing processes, as well as to deploy new ARMS units. Kerry’s other roles include serving as Divemaster for CRED and as the Scientific Liaison for American Samoa.
The Microbial Team
Chris Sullivan
Chris Sullivan is the microbiologist on the Northern Marianas leg of the cruise. He is a 2nd year master’s student in Dr. Sandin’s lab at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO). Chris holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biology (Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution) and also in Economics from University of California, San Diego (UCSD). Growing up in San Diego, Chris became very familiar with southern California’s coast and the life within its coastal waters. He first became interested in studying marine biology when he visited San Diego’s Sea Camp in the eighth grade. It was during his time as a UCSD undergraduate that he volunteered on a CalCOFI cruise and worked in two different labs at SIO. He spent time processing phytoplankton samples in Dr. Ralf Goericke’s lab and measuring CO2 in seawater in Dr. Andrew Dickson’s lab. This is Chris's second CRED research cruise, with his first being the Main Hawaiian Island cruise last year. Although Chris currently studies fish ecology, his microbiology and water chemistry background made him a great candidate for the position.
Data Management
Annette DesRochers
After earning her Bachelor’s Degree in Marine Science Biology from Long Island University in New York in 1997, Annette worked for a local municipality for 10 years where she learned and eventually managed Southampton Town’s Geographic Information System. Her desire to work in the Marine Sciences again brought her to Hawai`i over three years ago to work for the Coral Reef Ecosystem Division (CRED) as a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) specialist; a perfect marriage of her educational background and professional experience. In 2009, she branched out into a new role with CRED as the team lead for Information Services; a small group of technical specialists focused on data management, GIS, graphic design, and scientific technical editing. Annette is excited to be part of the mission to Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands as this is her second cruise with CRED as Data Manager.
