Leslie Cornick was born and raised in southern CA, where she had her first taste of her future as a marine biologist on a field trip to the Channel Islands in the fifth grade. She earned her BA in Biological Anthropology at UC San Diego, MA in Physiology and Behavioral Biology at San Francisco State University , and PhD in Wildlife Ecology at Texas A&M University . Her doctoral studies first brought her to Alaska to study Steller sea lion foraging in 1999. After post-doctoral work at the University of Alaska , Fairbanks , which took her to the opposite polar region to study foraging in Weddell seals, and a year teaching Marine Biology at Connecticut College , she returned to Alaska to teach Marine Biology and Statistics at Alaska Pacific University . Her research focuses on the physiological limits to foraging in diving mammals, particularly their ability to respond to natural and anthropogenic changes in the environment. As the effects of climate change become more evident in Alaska and the Arctic Dr. Cornick is committed more than ever to conducting research that contributes to marine conservation and policy. She's married with two canine children (Max and Mo) and lives in Wasilla. She loves movies, camping, fishing, SCUBA diving and the Tour de France.

Elise Granek is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Science and Management at Portland State University (Oregon, USA). She earned her PhD from Oregon State University in Marine Ecology in 2006, her MES in Conservation Biology from Yale University’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies in 1999, and her BA in Environmental Studies from the University of Pennsylvania in 1993. Her research examines various impacts to coastal zone habitats and species in both tropical and temperate waters including: impacts of watershed land use on coastal marine inputs in Oregon; effects of mangrove clearing on coastal habitats and on mangrove regeneration in the Caribbean; socio-economic and ecological factors affecting coral reef conservation in the Comoros Islands; and measuring factors that could enhance ecosystem-based management at the land-sea interface. She serves on the Education Committee of the SCB and has served a previous term on the board of the Marine Section. Her previous experience includes working as the Staff Ecologist for an IUCN Project that coordinated the creation of the Moheli Marine Park in the Comoros Islands (Western Indian Ocean) and working with the Smithsonian Institution’s Monitoring and Assessment of Biodiversity Program.

Ellen Hines is an associate professor in the Dept. of Geography and Human Environmental Studies at San Francisco State University. Most of her research encompasses the myriad issues surrounding coastal marine mammals and integrated coastal management in developing countries. She has been working in SE Asia since 1999, in Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam, looking at the population/habitat assessment and conservation issues affecting dugongs and Irrawaddy dolphins. For the past three years, she and her students have been mapping resources in Turneffe Atoll, in Belize, looking at manatee and dolphin distribution, and creating a GIS conservation zoning structure of the Atoll as part of an application for Biosphere reserve status by a group of local stakeholders. She also serves as a scientific advisor for the Oceanic Society, on the steering committee of the Mangrove Action Project, and on the board of directors for Sirenian International. 

Daniela Maldini, Ph.D. is currently the Director of Research at Earthwatch Institute and an Adjunct Professor in the Biology Department at the University of Massachusetts , Amherst . Daniela completed her B.S. degree in Biological Sciences at the University of Pavia, Italy, in 1988. During this time she managed the university's marine biology laboratory and completed a thesis on the conservation biology of pleuronectiform fishes in the Ligurian Sea . She moved to the United States in 1988 and interned in the Oceanography Department at the University of Texas at Austin Marine Laboratory located in Corpus Christi , Texas . Later, she worked with marine mammals and birds at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories in Monterey Bay , California , where she completed her M.S. in Marine Sciences in 1996. The topic of her M.S. thesis was the ecology of bottlenose dolphins in Monterey Bay . During this time she was also involved in a variety of ecological studies focusing on whales, dolphins, sea otters, and pinnipeds; co-founded the Pacific Cetacean Group, a non-profit corporation focusing on research, education, and conservation; and led the Marine Mammal Center Monterey Bay Operations' stranding network in 1994-1995. Daniela completed her Ph.D. in Zoology at the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 2003 with a study of odontocete abundance and distribution around the island of Oahu . She is also the co-founder and vice president of the Oceanwide Science Institute, a Hawaii non-profit organization. She has been contracting as a biologist with the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary since 1998. From 2001-2004 she worked as Research Associate at the Alaska SeaLife Center focusing on the ecology of killer whales and sea otters in Alaskan and Russian waters. Daniela is interested in behavioral ecology, population biology, and predator-prey relationships. Her work focuses on the ecology of odontocetes in various parts of the world.

Chris Parsons is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy, George Mason University in Virginia (USA) and a research associate at the University Marine Biological Station, Millport. He's the coordinator for the environmental science programs for George Mason University's Earth Science and Biology BS degrees and the minor in ocean and estuarine science, as well as being the director of the undergraduate certificate in environmental education program.

Chris has been involved in whale and dolphin research for over a decade and has conducted projects in South Africa, India, China and the Caribbean as well as the UK. He is currently involved in research projects on coastal dolphin populations in the Dominican Republic, and a new project based in Pakistan. Before moving to the U.S., Dr. Parsons was the Director of the Research and Education Departments of the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust (HWDT), from 1998 until 2003. Prior to this, he was involved in research on Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins and finless porpoises in Hong Kong and China, which involved studies on the behavior and ecology of Hong Kong's cetaceans, marine pollution and its effects on marine life. He earned his Ph.D. in 1997 from the University of Hong Kong, and has a BA and MA from Oxford University in 1988.

An active member in a number of marine conservation and management bodies, Chris has been a member of the scientific committee of the International Whaling Commission since 1999. He was awarded a Fellowship by the Royal Geographical Society in 1997, won a Scottish Thistle Award in 2000 for his work in Environmental Tourism, and was acknowledged a young achiever in Scotland for his achievements in cetacean conservation by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh in 1999.

Anne Salomon I am currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Marine Science Institute, University of California – Santa Barbara, having received my PhD from the University of Washington and my Masters from the University of British Columbia. At its core, my research is motivated by a desire to understand how human disturbances alter species interactions and food web dynamics in temperate, nearshore, marine ecosystems. Specifically, I have been investigating the community and ecosystem-level effects of fishing in Alaska, using a gradient of subsistence shoreline harvest pressure, and in New Zealand, using marine reserves as unfished controls. Currently, I am investigating the relative roles of oceanographic climate forcing and fisheries in regulating regional kelp bed dynamics in central California with the goal of forecasting future change. Overall, my research strives to inform coastal environmental decisions with quantitative and integrative science. To achieve this, I complement my field-based, experimental ecological research with natural stable isotope techniques, ecosystem modeling, satellite-derived oceanographic data, anthropological methods, archaeological data and Bayesian time-series analyses. My research is broad, interdisciplinary and heavily conservation orientated, having addressed topics ranging from marine reserve design, invasive marine species and climate change.

Jennifer Smith's research focuses on understanding the factors (natural, anthropogenic, physical & biological) that influence community structure in benthic marine ecosystems. While she has worked in a number of different systems, both pristine and degraded, her primary interests lie in determining how different anthropogenic impacts affect coral reef community structure. Jennifer has focused on understanding the importance of overfishing versus nutrient pollution in maintaining the competitive balance between algae and coral. The results of this work are critical to effective management and conservation of coral reef ecosystems around the globe. Jennifer also studies introduced and invasive marine species, specifically seaweeds. With this work she has taken a holistic approach by trying to understand a) why invaders are often so successful in their invaded environments, b) what impacts they have on native communities and c) what management options will be useful in controlling their abundance in the invaded habitats. She has a long-term interest in seaweed invasions especially as related to intentional introductions for the global aquaculture industry. Jennifer's research often goes beyond basic ecology by integrating conservation, restoration, management and sustainability. She has received numerous awards for her research and looks forward to a long career in marine ecology and conservation.

CAROL SCARPACI is a lecturer in the School of Engineering and Science at Victoria University in Australia. Carol has carried out research on marine mammals since 1997 in Australia and successfully completed her PhD (RMIT University) in 2004. Since the completion of her PhD, Carol, has continued to conduct research with the following research scopes: microflora in little penguins, compliance of tour operators to either code of conducts or regulations for dolphin/seal/grey nurse shark swim operations, toxicity testing in little penguins and use of stomatal cells as a proxy to rising carbon dioxide levels across time. She is the author of several scientific research papers on various topics concerning the biology and management of marine mammals exposed to marine tourism. Her research has been utilized in a number of international forums (for example International Whaling Commission, Society of Marine Mammal Science), and has resulted in re-evaluating and re-structuring cetacean tourism and their enforcement in several countries. Carol has also participated in many community projects and was awarded as an “icon” in the western metropolitan region of Victoria (Australia) for her community efforts and marine focused projects. Carol hopes that her ongoing research will encourage sustainable tourism in marine and terrestrial environments by developing management strategies that promote acceptable levels of compliance by tour-operators.

RATIONALE FOR JOINING SCB MARINE SECTION:
I nominated myself for the SCB marine section as my research is pivoted towards marine conservation and the development of feasible and realistic policies for protecting wildlife exposed to anthropogenic pressures. I strongly believe in the facilitation of resources (e.g. education, peer-reviewed publications) that encourage better management practices that encourage sustainability of marine resources. The goals that are stipulated in the marine section are coherent with the goals that I wish to be conceived in the science of marine conservation.

FUTURE ASPIRATIONS FOR SCB MARINE SECTIONS:
I strongly believe that the formation and collaboration of individuals with a diversity of expertise in marine conversation has the capacity to encourage research that is conservation focused. The objective of the research would be to develop feasible working management strategies for government authorities (at an international level) to utilize. I envisage that SCB Marine is an avenue to encourage marine policy and law for the welfare of the marine environment and its resources to coexist with human activities. I hope I can join this team of inspiring marine scientists.

Michael Webster is a Program Officer with the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation's Wild Salmon Ecosystems initiative. His work focuses on identifying and filling critical gaps in scientific understanding of salmon ecology, management and conservation, and applying this information to fisheries harvest reform. Michael received a B.S. in Zoology at the University of Wisconsin , Madison . From there, he started graduate work at Oregon State University where earned a Ph.D. in Zoology. His research focused on the ecology of coral-reef fishes and involved extensive field work in Australia and the Bahamas . After completing his doctorate, Michael began work as a Postdoctoral Research Associate for the Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans (PISCO) at Oregon State University . While with PISCO he ran a kelp forest monitoring project in Oregon and helped coordinate numerous research projects.

Elliott A. Norse is President of Marine Conservation Biology Institute (www.mcbi.org) in Bellevue, Washington.  After studying the ecology of blue crabs in the Caribbean for his Ph.D. and post-doc, he began working in 1978 on environmental policy at two federal agencies, the Ecological Society of America and two conservation organizations before founding MCBI in 1996.  MCBI is a national and international science and conservation advocacy organization dedicated to advancing the new science of marine conservation biology and securing protection for marine ecosystems.  A Founding Life Member of SCB, Elliott organized the first and second Symposia on Marine Conservation Biology (Victoria 1997 and San Francisco 2001).  His 140+ publications include: Global Marine Biological Diversity: A Strategy for Building Conservation into Decision Making (1993) and Marine Conservation Biology: The Science of Maintaining the Sea’s Biodiversity (2005).  He is a Pew Fellow in Marine Conservation and received NOAA’s Nancy Foster Award for Habitat Conservation.