DIVISION MANAGEMENT

Dr. Thomas T. Noji - Chief of Ecosystems Processes Division

Supervisory Marine Research Scientist

Trained planktologist with experience in benthology, marine ecology, habitat mapping and theory, coastal management, carbon sequestration and biogeochemical carbon cycling.

Patricia Irby

Administrative Officer

Monitor fiscal budgets and personnel for Ecosystems Processes Division and Aquaculture Enhancement Division.

Catherine Noonan

Secretary/Steno/OA

Personal secretary to the Division Chief and assists the Division personnel where necessary; assistant to the Howard Lab’s Officer-in-Charge.

Thomas Finneran

IT Specialist

Divisional computer resource including Lab Webmaster, assistant network administrator, hardware/software troubleshooting, and software applications support.

Steven Fromm

IT Specialist

Habitat Research (contributes to atlas and other analyses of the laboratory’s historic benthic data), Habitat Assessment (develops figures and tables based on state EFH data), GIS applications.

Suellen Fromm

IT Specialist

Habitat Assessment (enter state EFH-related data sets into Oracle to create species distribution figures using ARC/INFO); Habitat Research (develop atlas of historic benthic data; provide data analysis/programming for staff); Computer Committee chairperson.

Amanda Goeller

LT NOAA Corps Officer - R/V NAUVOO Skipper

Extensive experience with fisheries research cruises and deployment of oceanographic, planktonic and benthic samplers.

Peter Plantamura

R/V NAUVOO Firstmate

Extensive experience on commercial and recreational fishing vessels and as skipper of fisheries research vessels; USCG 100 ton Nearcoastal Masters License.

COASTAL ECOLOGY BRANCH

Dr. Christopher Chambers

Research Fishery Biologist

Recruitment/ecological processes; life history variation; parental influences on offspring; population and process modeling; experimental design; univariate and multivariate statistical methods; fish culture; quantitative (ecological) genetics; winter and summer flounder, monkfish, Atlantic tomcod, Hudson River estuary and its fish community.

Dawn Davis

Biological Science Laboratory Technician

Coordination of laboratory experimentation on behavior and growth of adult and juvenile fish; rearing of fish from eggs; Hudson River and Sandy Hook Bay field surveys.

Dr. Vincent G. Guida

Research Fishery Biologist

Lipid and protein accumulation in young of the year resource species as an indicator of condition, fitness, and by inference, the suitability of juvenile habitats; fishing effects, habitat values, and ecosystem processes on the mid Atlantic outer shelf (tilefish habitat), including development of field collection strategies and methods, lab analysis methods, and interpretation of catch data, underwater video, photo, and acoustic records; benthic and organic carbon data.

Donna Johnson

Research Fishery Biologist

Contributor to EFH source documentation. Geographic mapping and data management of historic and current ichthyoplankton records. Otolith microstructure analysis (larval and juvenile species). Contributor to Georges Bank GLOBEC study.

Annette Kalbach

Secretary/Admin Support Assistant

Serves as Branch Secretary to the Chief and assists Branch staff where necessary with travel, time and attendance.

Clyde MacKenzie, Jr.

Research Fishery Biologist

Shellfish ecology (principally hard and soft clams, and oysters), management, and historical and current fisheries; benthic ecology, especially amphipod tube areas of Raritan and Sandy Hook bays; aquaculture; inshore gear effects.

Donald McMillan

Fishery Biologist

Trawl surveys; recreational fisheries; small boat operation, sampling, maintenance, and safety.

David Packer

Ecologist

EFH legislation, Source Documents, and NEFMC Habitat PDT; NMFS National Policy on Gravel Extraction; sediment analysis and data interpretation; deepwater corals; Gulf of Maine and Chesapeake Bay ecosystems; salt marsh restoration; technical writing and desktop publishing; benthic sampling and ecology; identification and taxonomy of NW Atlantic mollusks; sediment analysis.

Robert Pikanowski

Biological Information Specialist

Trawl surveys; sampling and survey design; data analysis, statistical and otherwise; mathematics and modeling; database management; conceptualization.

Joseph Vitaliano

Research Fishery Biologist

Benthos of northeast salt marshes, estuaries and shelf; benthic macrofauna and sediment sampling and survey design; macrofauna sample processing, and effects of human impacts (sewage sludge, fishing gear) on benthic habitats; benthic ecology (macrofauna, sediment, and fish interrelationships); statistical analysis of benthic data, including multivariate analysis of large datasets.

OCEANOGRAPHY BRANCH

Jonathan Hare - Chief of Oceanography Branch

Marine Scientist

Ship of Opportunity Continuous Plankton Recorder program and Research Vessel Plankton Monitoring program; fisheries oceanography with an emphasis on bio-physical coupling in marine systems; applications for fisheries management issues; otolith aging and fish taxonomy.

James Manning

Oceanographer

Modeler of hydrography and circulation of the northeast U.S. shelf; temperature monitoring array in cooperation with commercial lobster fishermen; low-cost Lagrangian approaches to studying circulation.

Maureen Taylor

Oceanographer

Hydrographic analyses and modeling of physical conditions; applications of hydrographic data to various issues of interest to the Center; advisor to the CTD monitoring program.

Cristina Bascunan

Physical Science Technician

Day-to-day operations of the CTD monitoring program.

Elaine Caldarone

Physiologist

Growth and condition of larval fish through the application of biochemical techniques; chemical and data analyses; elucidation of the dynamics of marine fish populations.

Dr. Gregory Lough

Oceanographer

Leader of the Recruitment Processes Group; cod biology and ecology; larval growth and survival of fishes in northeast U.S. shelf ecosystem; major NEFSC participant in the Georges Bank GLOBEC Program.

Elisabeth Broughton

Biological Laboratory Technician

Lead technician for larval fish studies; applying Video Plankton Recorder to study of zooplankton and ichthyoplankton; expert in larval fish taxonomy.

Bruce Burns

Fishery Biologist

Otolith analyses to study larval fish ecology; linking growth measures from the otolith to biochemical measures; experience in larval fish spawning and rearing; expert in larval fish taxonomy.

Plankton Ecology Investigation Unit

 

Joseph Kane

Fishery Biologist

Large-scale zooplankton studies; expert on zooplankton distribution and abundance on the northeast shelf ecosystem; EcoMon Database structure and function; Research Vessel Plankton Monitoring program.

Jack Jossi

Oceanographer

Ship of Opportunity Continuous Plankton Recorder program; system administrator for EcoMon databases; analysis of zooplankton population data and applications for management issues.

Jerome Prezioso

Oceanographer

Day-to-day operations of the Research Vessel Plankton Monitoring program; shipboard operations for zooplankton monitoring and land-based support activities.

Daniel Smith

Biological Laboratory Technician

Day-to-day operations of Ship of Opportunity Continuous Plankton Recorder program; primary contact for operational issues related to the continuous plankton recorder operation.

Joyce Denecour

Statistical Assistant

Data processing and quality control for Investigation monitoring programs.

Jane Allen

Statistical Assistant

Data processing and quality control for Investigation monitoring programs.

Dr. David Dow

Oceanographer

NEFMC Habitat Plan Development Team member; regional ecosystems-based management activities.

MARINE CHEMISTRY BRANCH

 

Dr. Ashok D. Deshpande

Research Chemist

Analyses of chlorinated hydrocarbons, PAHs, pesticides and natural biomarker compounds, including the use of PCB “fingerprinting” to define critical habitat of bluefish, exposure of lobsters to ambient Long Island Sound environmental conditions, and the transfer of contaminants through the food web to endangered cetaceans.

Dr. Bruce Dockum

Chemist

Extraction of sediment and tissue samples and cleanup of extracts for analysis of PAH and chlorinated hydrocarbons compounds; management of Organic Analyses Laboratory data, and QA-QC protocols.

Dr. Shayla Williams

Fishery Biologist

Research on the temporal dynamics of PCBs in bluefish of the Hudson Estuary to address the possibility that contamination is involved in YOY recruitment failure.

Daniel Wieczorek

Physical Science Technician

Laboratory and field technician. Management of samples and data; primary small boat operator for the Marine Chemistry Branch.

BEHAVIORIAL ECOLOGY BRANCH

Dr. Beth Phelan - Chief of Behavioral Ecology Branch

Supervisory Research Fishery Biologist

Essential Fish Habitat and fish population; oversees field and laboratory studies aimed at understanding fish-habitat relations, survival and abundance and distribution of fisheries resources; EFH for nearshore marine species such as winter flounder, black sea bass, tautog and bluefish; field studies (surveys, tagging, caging) and laboratory experiments (habitat selection, predation, spawning) examining ecological processes (survival, growth, activity and movement) and the effect of environmental factors on the behavior of living marine resources.

Dr. John Manderson

Research Fishery Biologist

Nursery habitat dynamics and their effects on the dispersal, growth and mortality of larval and early juvenile stages of important resource species.

Frank Morello

Laboratory Worker

Technical support in both the laboratory and field.

Jeffrey Pessutti

Physical ScienceTechnician

Field and lab collection of data, maintenance and deployment of water monitoring instruments, sampling gear and acoustic telemetry equipment; advanced user of Geographic Information Systems (GIS); CTDs, real-time satellite imagery and GIS coverages, depth-specific plankton sampling and onboard hydroacoustic measurements.

John Rosendale

Biological Laboratory Technician

Maintenance of the research vessels and equipment used in the field and in the lab; extracts, prepares and reads otoliths from young-of-the-year fish for aging studies using an image analysis system.

Linda Stehlik

Research Fishery Biologist

Identification of fish and invertebrates; crustacean biology and identification of stomach contents of fish and crabs; undertakes interactions with commercial fishermen; laboratory studies of the behavioral ecology of fish and crustaceans using video cameras and live observations.

Beth Sharack

Chemist

Trace Metals Laboratory. Performance of chemical laboratory analyses utilizing instrumentation specific to trace metals studies (i.e. ICP MS, atomic absorption/emission/flame/graphite furnace).; implementation of new methods for sample preparation and analysis.

Barbara Nielsen

Branch Administrative Assistant

Administrative support for Marine Chemistry Branch and Behavioral Ecology Branch.