• Cetacean
• Fish Ecology
• Professional
• Volunteer Service

Cetacean Experience

Greg spent 4 years involved in the design and implementation of various shipboard and aerial surveys, as well as density estimate calculations. He has been actively involved in surveys in the Gulf of Mexico, western North Atlantic, and Caribbean Sea. Greg used data collected during these surveys to calculate density estimates for marine mammals in compliance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Greg has also attended DISTANCE Sampling training, SAS training, and the NOAA Guidelines for Assessing Marine Mammal Stocks Workshop, in addition to several other governmental and scientific workshops.

Chief Scientist/Field Party Chief. Mariana Islands Sea Turtle Cetacean Survey (MISTCS). January 2007 through April 2007. Greg designed and implemented this 90 day, line-transect survey. The objective of this survey was to estimate the abundance of cetaceans with the Guam/Mariana Islands OPERA (operating areas) for the U.S. Navy. Greg was also responsible for all data analysis and report preparation, presentation and publications. He was responsible for all daily operations of 9 other scientists and all aspects of field and data management.

Project Manager, Technical Lead. Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Density Estimation for the Gulf of Mexico Operating Areas/Testing and Training Areas. August 2004 through present. The purpose of this project is the generation of a technical report that details the marine mammal and sea turtle density estimates for the Navy operating areas of the Northern Gulf of Mexico out to the Economic Exclusive Zone. The technical report and density results will be consistent with the Marine Resource Assessment prepared for these operating areas and will follow the revised methodology for Navy density estimation, which is based on the usage of DISTANCE software and geographic stratification of the survey data. In addition to managing this project, Greg is the technical expert responsible for all density estimates derived through traditional line-transect theory and spatial modeling. Greg also worked with the data providers to acquire all pertinent data for use on the project and oversaw the manipulation of those data that were used in the density estimation. He is also responsible for the technical review and editing of the associated report documents.

Project Manager, Technical Lead. Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Density Estimation for the Southeast Operating Areas. August 2004 through Present. The purpose of this project is the generation of a technical report that details the marine mammal and sea turtle density estimates for the Navy operating areas from Chesapeake Bay, Maryland south to Jupiter, Florida. The technical report and density results will be consistent with the Marine Resource Assessment prepared for these operating areas and will follow the revised methodology for Navy density estimation, which is based on the usage of DISTANCE software and geographic stratification of the survey data. Greg is the manager and technical expert responsible for all density estimates derived through traditional line-transect theory and spatial modeling. He is also responsible for the technical review and editing of the associated report documents.

Project Manager, Technical Lead. Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Density Estimation for the Northeast Operating Areas. August 2004 through Present. The purpose of this project is the generation of a technical report that details the marine mammal and sea turtle density estimates for the Navy operating areas of Boston, Narragansett Bay, and Atlantic City. The technical report and density results will be consistent with the Marine Resource Assessment prepared for these operating areas and will follow the revised methodology for Navy density estimation, which is based on the usage of DISTANCE software and geographic stratification of the survey data. Greg is the manager and technical expert responsible for all density estimates derived through traditional line-transect theory and spatial modeling. He is also responsible for the technical review and editing of the associated report documents.

Project Leader. Mid-Atlantic Tursiops Survey (MATS). July 2004 through August 2004. Greg assisted with design and implementation of this 45 day, aerial survey targeted at bottlenose dolphins along the eastern seaboard from Jupiter, FL to Atlantic City, NJ. His primary role was team leader and marine mammal expert. He was responsible for four observers and two pilots, in addition to all aspects of data management.

Chief Scientist/Field Party Chief. More North Atlantic Humpbacks (MoNAH) Silver Bank Humpback Whale Survey, Silver Bank Sanctuary, Dominican Republic. Greg was the primary point of contact for this cruise which was a joint venture between the Northeast and Southeast Fisheries Science Centers of NOAA Fisheries. His responsibilities included managing up to 15 scientists, in addition to maintaining continual communication between the scientists and ship’s crew. Greg ensured that daily small boat operations were conducted safely and efficiently, and that all data (both photographs and tissue biopsies) were managed effectively throughout the entire 55 day cruise.

Chief Scientist/Field Party Chief. NOAA Ship Gordon Gunter Cruise GU-03-02(23). Greg designed and implemented a dedicated marine mammal survey in the oceanic waters of the northern Gulf of Mexico. He was responsible for the daily shipboard observer and acoustic operations, data management, and data summary.

Data Analyst. National Marine Fisheries Service. 2001 through 2004. Greg was involved in all aspects data analysis while working with NMFS. His responsibilities included data summaries, report and scientific writings, and mainly focused on density estimates of marine mammals using data collected from appropriate resource surveys. Greg also participated in the management of the protected stocks under the MMPA by writing select sections of the Stock Assessment Report for the Gulf of Mexico and Southeastern U.S. waters. He utilized several software programs to complete these analyses including; Visual dBASE, SAS, Access, SPSS, Arcview GIS, and Excel.

Visual Observer. Shipboard and Aerial Surveys in Various Locales. Intermittently, 2001 through 2003. Greg participated as part of a visual team for cetacean surveys that are piggybacked onto NMFS ichthyoplankton cruises. He was also part of small boat surveys out of the Pascagoula Laboratory which were designed to locate and photograph sperm whales and bottlenose dolphins. Responsibilities included driving a small boat, photo-identification and biopsy tasks. Greg was also a member of the visual NMFS aerial survey team that determined distribution and abundance of bottlenose dolphins along the U.S. Atlantic Coast (ongoing Mid-Atlantic Tursiops Survey). He also participated as an observer and biopsy collector on the NMFS-NEFSC Delaware II 03-07, Large Whale Survey in Scotian Shelf waters.

Fish Ecology Experience

Greg has spent 15 years studying fish ecology in multiple freshwater and marine habitats. Greg has worked extensively in the estuarine/marine environments studying habitat utilization and the effects of environmental variability on the distribution and growth of several marine species. His responsibilities have included data collection, management and analysis of several projects.

Principal Investigator. Distribution of ocean sunfish (Mola mola). Ongoing. Using archived aerial survey data from the National Marine Fisheries Service, Southeast Fisheries Science Center, Greg is working to map the distribution of ocean sunfish within the northern Gulf of Mexico to better understand the ecology of this unique fish.

Principal Investigator/Project Manager. Plankton patchiness and the associated distribution and growth of larval anchovies: An estuarine landscape perspective. January 1998 through December 2000. Dissertation Research. The objective was to demonstrate that resource patchiness can have an impact on the growth and distribution of a vital source of a predator (bay anchovy). This research has helped model the effect of trophic level variations in predator/prey interactions.

Project Manager. Fish Ecology. January 1996 through December 2000. Greg was the laboratory manager responsible for ensuring the completion of various state and federally funded research projects, which included both field and laboratory research. His work, in conjunction with several other collaborators, resulted in several peer-reviewed publications which modeled the effects of environmental change on the growth of several species of estuarine fishes.

Scientist. Watch leader. June 1997 through December 2000. Greg was in charge of organizing and executing sampling protocol, the sorting and identification of all organisms captured for federally funded groundfish surveys with the NMFS.

Professional Experience

Department Manager. Geo-Marine, Inc. March 2006 through January 2007.

• Responsible for the direction and supervision of 10 scientists.

Senior Project Manager/Fish Ecologist. Geo-Marine, Inc. October 2004 through present.

• Management of Department of Navy funded projects, most exceeding $250,000 value.
• Head of Fish and Fisheries section within the entire corporation.

Research Fisheries Biologist. Southeast Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service. September 2002 through September 2004.

• Responsible for data analysis and planning of various research cruises.

Research Fisheries Biologist IV. Southeast Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service. March 2002 through September 2002.

• Responsible for data analysis and planning of various research cruises.

Research Fisheries Biologist III. Southeast Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service. December 2000 through September 2002.

• Responsible for design and implementation of research cruises, as well as analyses of resulting data

Additional Professional Experience

• Instructor (June – July 2003). The University of Southern Mississippi, Gulf Coast Research Laboratory Summer School, Ocean Springs, MS. Instructor of record for Marine Ecology I (lecture and laboratory.
• Science Teacher (August, 1993-May, 1995). Resurrection Catholic High School, Pascagoula, MS. Chemistry, Biology, Advanced Biology, Ecology, and Marine Biology.
• Instructor (June-August, 1993). Mississippi County Community College, Blytheville, AR. Instructor of record for General Biology (lecture and laboratory); Microbiology (laboratory); and Survey of Chemistry, (lecture).
• Teaching Assistant (August, 1992-May, 1993). Angelo State University, San Angelo, TX. Biology for Non-majors (laboratory) and instructor of record for General Zoology (laboratory).
• Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape (SERE) Instructor (April, 1984-April, 1992). U.S. Air Force, Community College of the Air Force, Spokane, WA. and Abilene, TX. Responsible for classroom and field instruction of Combat Survival Training Course (17 days, 120 students/month), Survival Instructor Course (6 months, 45 students) and Combat Survival Training Refresher Course (curriculum development, course direction and implementation). I was also responsible for the curriculum development of Jungle SERE Training (Panama) and Desert SERE Training of Coalition Forces (Southwest Asia, Operation Desert Storm).

Summary of Experience

Greg is a fisheries ecologist who has 15 years of experience with marine and freshwater fishes and their habitats. His diverse background covers many aspects of the marine and estuarine environments, including studies on pelagic/planktonic organisms and the interaction of these organisms within their natural habitats. Additionally, Greg has 5 years of research experience with marine mammals, including shipboard and aerial survey design, data analysis and density estimation. His research interests include addressing the impacts of anthropogenic disruption of natural populations of marine organisms. He has also been involved in many outreach efforts to educate the public about a wide variety of marine animals. Greg’s primary areas of expertise include:

• Design, management, implementation, and analysis of several field and laboratory research projects focused on the interaction of marine/estuarine fishes and their natural environments
• Planning and implementation of numerous research projects, including shipboard and aerial surveys designed to estimate the abundance of marine mammals
• Calculation of density estimates for several marine organisms, including marine mammals, sea turtles and fishes
• Preparation and publication of scientific publications
• Visual observer for marine mammals
• Public presentations (speaker and moderator)
• Educational outreach

Greg has also spent an extensive of amount of his free time with educational outreach. This has been ongoing since his military career and he is still very active in going to local schools and talking about marine biology. Most recently, Greg was invited to present his ongoing research to the community of Guam; this unfortunately, did not occur due to contractual agreements with the U.S. Navy. Greg has also been very active with coaching for baseball and soccer in the past.

Volunteer Service

• Plano Independent School District (2004-present)
• Baldwin County Schools, Spanish Fort and Daphne, AL (2001- 2004)
• Taconi Elementary School, Ocean Springs, MS (1999-2000)
• St. Alphonsus Catholic School, Ocean Springs, MS (1995-1998)
• Baseball Coach, YMCA, Ocean Springs, MS (1997)
• Resurrection Catholic School, Pascagoula, MS (1993-1995)
• Baseball and Soccer Coach, City of Pascagoula, MS (1993)
• San Angelo Catholic Schools, Science Department. San Angelo, TX (1992-1993)
• San Angelo Civic Ballet. San Angelo, TX (1992-1993)