Dr.
James P. McVey is presently Program Director
of Aquaculture at the National Sea Grant College Program.
He is responsible for reviewing the proposals pertaining to
aquaculture received from the Universities in the Sea Grant
System and he monitors the Sea Grant activities for the Woods
Hole Oceanographic Institution, Florida, North Carolina, Georgia
and Louisiana programs.
He
is the Program Manager for NOAA's Oyster Disease Research
Program and the Gulf Oyster Industry Initiative, and he manages
the National Aquaculture Initiative, all competitive programs.
He also serves on the Executive Committee of the Joint Subcommittee
on Aquaculture, as Chairman of United States/Japan Panel on
Natural Resources (Aquaculture), and as Chairman of the Living
Marine Resources Panel between China and the United States
(U.S.). He has provided input to the National Academy of Science
review panels on aquaculture, the Federal Coordinating Committees
on Science and Technology Aquaculture
and Biotechnology), and Small Business Innovative Research
review panels for the National Science Foundation, United
States Department of Agriculture and other organizations.
He was selected for a one year Fellows program with the Council
of Excellence and was chosen as the graduation speaker by
his colleagues. He has received The Department of Commerce
Bronze Medal (1995) and the Department of Commerce Silver
Medal (2000) for developing a National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration Aquaculture Program and his international leadership
in aquaculture development. He has worked for two years in
Indonesia with the U.S. AID, where he established or upgraded
four fresh water shrimp hatcheries on the island of Java and
worked to bring improved technology for marine shrimp hatcheries
throughout the country. Previous to his assignment in Indonesia
he served as the Aquaculture Division Chief for the National
Marine Fisheries Service Southeast Fisheries Center for a
period of five years. He was involved with the development
of techniques for captive spawning of marine shrimp and fish,
shrimp broodstock nutritional requirements, hatchery technique
development, and headstarting of the endangered Kemp's Ridley
turtle.
Dr. McVey spent seven years as the Marine Biologist for the
Trust Territory of the Pacific, where he designed and built
the Micronesian Mariculture Demonstration Center (MMDC). The
MMDC worked on the culture of giant clams, rabbitfish, oysters,
freshwater and saltwater prawns and was responsible for introducing
brackishwater pond culture to Micronesia. During this time
in Micronesia, and while a student at the University of Hawaii,
he participated in several research cruises and expeditions
as a diver and biologist which required him to learn the life
histories and identification of significant number of species
in the tropical Pacific. This included pioneering artificial
reef studies in Hawaiian waters.
Dr. McVey has served on the World Aquaculture Society Board
of Directors for two years and has served on the Affiliation
Committee and the Editorial Board for the WAS book series.
He was Program Chairperson for the WAS part of Aquaculture
"92" held in Orlando, Florida, where over 2,000 scientists
participated.
Dr.
McVey received his B.S. degree from the University of Miami
and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Hawaii.
He has published three major books on aquaculture and nearly
50 scientific publications.
Jim
and his wife, Eileen, live in Rockville, Maryland, and have
two grown children, Christopher and Colleen plus Buster the
dog. Jim enjoys hiking, wilderness canoeing, diving, fishing
or anything in the great out-of-doors. Photography is still
an important part of both he and his wife's interests. They
are in the process of buying a lot on the Chesapeake Bay so
they can be closer to the water.
