MEMBERSHIP LIST
Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council (Council) consists of sixteen voting members, representing key constituent groups, and five non-voting members, representing key government agencies with responsibilities that require coordination with sanctuary staff.
Charter members of the Council were selected through a competitive application process in the fall of 2005. A committee of three non-sanctuary employees reviewed all applications and recommended the top three candidates for each seat. The sanctuary manager selected one representative and one alternate for each seat. Standard background checks were then conducted on each of the selected individuals.
For any future vacancies, a committee of Council members will conduct the initial review process and recommend candidates to the sanctuary manager.
Effective February 25, 2009, a revision to the Council charter was approved, which converted all alternate seats to full member seats. The result is two voting representatives for each constituent group.
Voting Members
Conservation: Rafael Calderón and Page Williams
Diving - Recreational: Frank Burek and Lori Gernhardt
Diving - Operations: Darrell Walker and Frank Wasson
Education: Dale Loughmiller and Jacqui Stanley
Fishing - Commercial: Joe Hendrix and Mike Jennings
Fishing - Recreational: Irby Basco and Matt Bunn
Oil & Gas Production: Clint Moore and Rebecca Nadel
Research: Dr. Will Heyman and Dr. Larry McKinney
Non-Voting Members
Environmental Protection Agency: to be determined
Minerals Management Service, U.S. Department of the Interior: James Sinclair
NOAA Fisheries Service, U.S. Department of Commerce: Rusty Swafford
NOAA Office of Law Enforcement: Charles Tyer
United States Coast Guard: LCDR Carmen DeGeorge
MEMBER BIOGRAPHIES AND CONTACT INFORMATION
 Member: Irby Basco
Seat: Recreational Fishing
President, Basco Construction Inc.
Nederland, TX
irbybasco@aol.com
Irby has been in the construction business for many years. In addition, he is an avid offshore fisherman, Coast Guard captain, life member of IGFA, IGFA record holder, member of the Texas Parks & Wildlife artificial reef committee, past president of Salt Water League of Anglers, Member of the Sabine Neches Conservation Club, state director of the Coastal Conservation Club, recipient of the Elwood K. Harry award, Tournament Directors of Texas, and former 9 year member of the Gulf of Mexico Fisheries Management Council. Mr. Basco has two reefs named in his honor, one off the coast of Texas and one off the coast of Alabama.
 Member: Matt Bunn
Seat: Recreational Fishing
Coastal Conservation Association
Galveston, TX
matt@ccatexas.org
No information available.
 Member: Frank Burek
Seat: Recreational Diving
Professional Photographer
Montgomery, TX
jfburek@consolidated.net
Frank is a professional marine and wildlife photographer. He has 27 years experience in the oil industry. Scuba certified in 1980, he presently has over 2,000 dives in the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean, and Western Pacific. He has had over 400 dives at the FGBNMS. He is an active member of the Houston Underwater Photographic Society, Houston Underwater Club and Texas Gulf Coast Council of Dive Clubs. Awards held jointly with his wife include NOAA 2000 “Environmental Hero Award” and FGBNMS 2005 “Volunteer of the Year Award.” He is the co-author/ publisher/photographer of Marine Life Guide computer based programs for: The Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, The Bay Islands of Honduras, and Indonesia.
 Member: Rafael Calderón
Seat: Conservation
Gulf of Mexico Director
The Nature Conservancy
Corpus Christi, TX
rafael_calderon@tnc.org
Rafael Calderón is a conservation planner with over 15 years of experience throughout Latin America, Caribbean and the Pacific. He has a Masters in Natural Resources Management from California State University, Humboldt. Mr. Calderón has been with The Nature Conservancy for 9 years, functioning as the “Gulf of Mexico Initiative Director” for the last 5. As Gulf of Mexico Director he has engaged stakeholders around the Gulf of Mexico in the US and Mexico. Before this, he worked as Senior Conservation Planner for the Pacific Island Countries and Director of Conservation Programs for Central America. In that position he was responsible for leading and providing technical assistance in marine Planning in the Bismarck Sea and Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Irian Jaya (eastern portion of Indonesia). Prior to this assignment, he served as Natural Resources Policy specialist in the PROARCA/CAPAS project based in Guatemala. Mr. Calderón worked as an independent consultant for multilateral organizations around Latin America (Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Panamá, Ecuador, Mexico and the Caribbean) for 11 years before joining the Conservancy. He now works out of the Conservancy’s Texas Coastal Office in Corpus Christi.
 Representative: LCDR Carmen DeGeorge
Agency: United States Coast Guard
Deputy Enforcement Chief/Fisheries Specialist
New Orleans, LA
carmen.s.degeorge@uscg.mil
No information available.
 Member: Lori Gernhardt
Seat: Recreational Diving
Manger of General Operations
Gulf Coast Waste Disposal Authority
Houston, TX
lroussel@gcwda.com
Lori is a 1984 graduate of the University of Southwestern Louisiana with a B.S. in Aquatic and Fisheries Biology. Before joining Gulf Coast Waste Disposal Authority (GCA) in 1993, she was involved in the management of three biomonitoring laboratories. She currently serves as the Manager of General Operations for GCA where she is responsible for GCA’s environmental, safety and engineering divisions, the municipal wastewater program, central laboratory, and Human Resources. Lori recently served as the Chair of the Galveston Bay Council, the governing body for the Galveston Bay Estuary Program and is active on several local environmental committees and initiatives in the Houston/Galveston area. She has extensive recreational diving experience and was certified NAUI in 1978. Most of her vacation time is spent underwater.
 Member: Joe Hendrix
Seat: Commercial Fishing
President, Seafish Mariculture
Houston, TX
jhendrix1706@aol.com
No information available.
 Member: Will Heyman
Seat: Research
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX
wheyman@tamu.edu
Will could swim before he could walk and has been interested in marine and coastal environments ever since as an avid fishermen, snorkeler, sailor, diver, underwater photographer, scientist and conservation practitioner. Presently an associate professor of Geography at Texas A&M University in College Station, he focuses his research on the conservation and management of marine and coastal systems, particularly in the humid tropics. Will received a BS in Biology from Tufts University, and an MS and PhD in Marine Science from the University of South Carolina. Though he has been involved in the world of research and academia, he has had diverse and varied work experiences in New England, the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, the Marshall Islands, and Belize. In each of these locations, and many others, he spent time living in and working with fishing communities. He maintains ongoing research on reef fish spawning aggregations, mangrove and seagrass productivity, coastal oceanography, coastal resource management and economics, bathymetric mapping, and the impacts of tourism on marine resources. He has been involved in several national and multi-national conservation exercises and has been an ardent supporter of broad stakeholder participation in the development of conservation and management plans and their implementation. Will has experienced the development of win-win coastal management through negotiation, constructive dialogue, and consensus building and looks forward to sharing this experience in his role on the Flower Garden Banks sanctuary advisory council.
 Member: Mike Jennings
Seat: Commercial Fishing
Angleton, TX
captainmikejennings@yahoo.com
Captain Mike Jennings is a lifetime resident of the Texas Gulf coast area. He has owned and operated Cowboy Charters, a charter fishing business, for over seven years and has nearly 25 total years of experience in the fishing business. Capt. Jennings has served as a member of various fishing and conservation organizations, including CCA.
 Member: Dale Loughmiller
Seat: Education
Paris ISD
Director of Technology
Mount Pleasant, TX
daleloughmiller@mac.com
Dale Loughmiller lives in Paris, Texas and started his education career as a high school science teacher. With Masters Degrees in both Physics and Educational Computing, Dale has worked for the last seven years as an education consultant for the Region VIII Education Service Center in Mount Pleasant, Texas. As a recreational diver, Dale visited the Flower Gardens for the first time in the summer of 2003 and has been ‘hooked’ ever since, participating in numerous education programs promoting the FGBNMS.
 Member: Larry McKinney
Seat: Research
Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
Harte Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies
Corpus Christi, TX
larry.mckinney@tamucc.edu
Larry is the new executive director Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies, as of July 2008. Previously, he was the Senior Director of Aquatic Resources and the Director of Coastal Fisheries, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. He retired from TPWD after 23 years service. Programmatic responsibilities while at TPWD included a broad range of natural resource and environmental issues: management of coastal fisheries resources, assessing and securing freshwater inflows to estuaries and instream flows for rivers and reservoirs; wetland conservation and restoration; endangered species conservation; and, other issues related to the ecological health of Texas' aquatic ecosystems. Larry has been widely recognized for his expertise in conservation and his efforts to translate science into sound and effective public policy that balances the ecological and economic health of Texas and the Gulf of Mexico.
 Member: Clint Moore
Seat: Oil and Gas Production
Vice President, Corp. Development
ION Geophysical Corporation
Spring, TX
clint@clintmoore.com
Clint is a Texas-licensed Professional Geoscientist, having worked for over 30 years as first a staff geoscientist, supervisor, and then manager and vice-president in petroleum exploration and business development in the offshore Gulf of Mexico. He has worked most of his career at three companies, Murphy Exploration (2006-07), Anadarko Petroleum (1987-2003) and Diamond Shamrock-Maxus (1978-1987), in addition to starting his own company, DiamondStar Exploration LLC, in 2007. He is currently Vice-President-Corporate Development for ION Geophysical Corporation, where he works on strategic planning, new ventures, and marketing for seismic data processing. Clint has extensive experience in the geosciences of the offshore Gulf of Mexico, with a comprehensive background in salt tectonics, complex depositional systems, sedimentary & stratigraphic processes, and subsalt petroleum exploration & development. He is a PADI & NITROX-certified scuba diver and an accomplished underwater videographer & photographer, having photographed thousands of underwater still images and many feet of video. He has made nearly 100 dives across the offshore banks of the northwestern Gulf of Mexico, primarily at East & West Flower Gardens, Stetson, Sonnier, Geyer, and Bright Banks, as well as on many petroleum production platforms.
Top of List
 Member: Rebecca Nadel
Seat: Oil and Gas Production
Shell
Houston, TX
rebecca.nadel@shell.com
Rebecca is the Sustainable Development and Social Performance Manager for Shell Exploration and Production Company. She and her colleagues are responsible for integrating "people and planet," two pillars of the triple bottom line, into the company's long-term strategy and annual operating plans. Prior to joining Shell, Rebecca earned her MBA and Master of Science in Natural Resource Management from the University of Michigan through the Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise. She also holds a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from Duke University and a Master of Engineering in Underwater Acoustics from Penn State. Formerly, Rebecca worked as an acoustical engineer for a military defense contractor on various sonar projects. Subsequently she worked at the Ocean Studies Board of the National Academies, as well as the National Park Service. Rebecca has been a certified Scuba diver since she was 15 and is a PADI Master Diver.
 Representative: James Sinclair
Agency: Minerals Management Service
Project Officer, MMS Environmental Studies at the FGBNMS
New Orleans, LA
james.sinclair@mms.gov
James has a B.S. in Marine Biology from Texas A&M University at Galveston and an M.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of New Orleans. His past work includes the culture of cephalopods, aerobic and anaerobic filtration, analysis of benthic community structure, propagation and restoration of submersed aquatic vegetation, and artificial reef development. He is a member of the Minerals Management Service Scientific Dive Team. His current work focuses on protection of sensitive habitats in the Gulf of Mexico including coral reefs, topographic features, the pinnacle trend, and live bottoms.
 Member: Jacqui Stanley
Seat: Education
Educator
Young Audiences
Houston, TX
wolfeellady@earthlink.net
Jacqui is an educator who is also an author, illustrator, speaker and supporter of several marine societies. She specializes in fostering ecological literacy by making the marine environment relevant to all age groups through frequent presentations, workshops, and seminars at schools, libraries and conferences both nationally and internationally. She has a BA from the University of Western Australia, and a MA from the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas. She completed educator certification at Western Washington University. A passionate diver for over thirty-seven years, Jacqui has dived in almost all the oceans of our world, and is amazed at the pristine quality of the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary. She currently works with Young Audiences of Houston.
 Representative: Rusty Swafford
Agency: NOAA Fisheries
Team Leader, Galveston Facility
Habitat Conservation Division
NMFS Southeast Region
Galveston, TX
rusty.swafford@noaa.gov
Rusty is currently the Gulf of Mexico Branch Supervisor for NOAA Fisheries Southeast Regional Office Habitat Conservation Division. He has over 20 years experience working for NOAA Fisheries and a well-rounded experience in coastal habitat conservation, restoration and enhancement issues.
 Member: Darrell Walker
Seat: Diving Operations
True Blue Watersports
Lake Charles, LA
darrell@truebluewatersports.com
Darrell is a lifetime resident of the Louisiana Gulf Coast and owner of True Blue Watersports. He is a PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer and 100 ton USCG Captain. As an avid SCUBA diver and dive instructor he has been a frequent visitor to the Flower Garden Banks since 1980. Darrell serves as lead Dive Safety Officer for the Calcasieu Parish Sheriffs Office and leads the black water diver training program for several other agencies. Darrell and his wife also own Blue Star Marine, LLC supplying marine contractor services for Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi Gulf Coast. Darrell is a graduate of McNeese State University with two technology degrees in Electronics and Instrumentation.
 Member: Frank Wasson
Seat: Diving Operations
Spree Expeditions
Freeport, TX
spree@spreeexpeditions.com
Frank is the president of Gulf Diving, LLC, the largest user group of the Flower Garden Banks. Gulf Diving is a member of the Diving Equipment and Manufacturers Association (DEMA) while Frank is a member of the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI). Frank has lived in Texas since July 1998 and moved here specifically to work in the sanctuary. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science.
 Member: Page Williams
Seat: Conservation
Houston, TX
page.williams@gmail.com
Page first dove the Flower Garden and Stetson Banks in 1985, and lobbied with fellow divers for the sanctuary status. Her conservation activities and interests are often focused on the marine environment, and have led to holding offices in the Houston Underwater Club, the Gulf Coast Council of Diving Clubs, Houston Audubon Society, Audubon Council of Texas, and the Lone Star Chapter as well as the Houston Regional Group of Sierra Club. She is presently on the executive committee of Galveston Bay Foundation, on the board of Gulf Restoration Network, on Sierra Club's National Marine Committee, and is environmental chair and a lifetime member of Houston Underwater Club.
|
