Director of Marine Extension Louisiana Sea Grant

Louisiana Sea Grant is seeking candidates for the position of Director of Marine Extension (see attached announcement). This is a full time, 12-month professional position that will serve as key member of La Sea Grant’s leadership team. The Director will lead an energetic, motivated team of 15 marine agents and discipline-specific specialists in a diverse and challenging marine extension and outreach program. As part of the upper management of Louisiana Sea Grant, the Director will also have ample opportunity to provide input into the development of new program-wide initiatives and projects.

Since 1968, Louisiana Sea Grant, headquartered on the Louisiana State University campus in Baton Rouge, has addressed the complex and often interrelated ecological, economic and social challenges that affect coastal Louisiana, one of the United States’ most dynamic coastal regions. The magnitude of these persistent – and more recently disruptive – challenges requires a practical and well-defined approach, as well as reliance on partners in an extensive network of state and regional universities, federal and state resource management agencies, and private sector and citizen groups. The scope of Louisiana Sea Grant’s activities embraces four main focus areas, as many as 13 academic institutions, 19 coastal zone parishes, and numerous partners in state and federal agencies and the private sector that provide matching funds and/or opportunities for collaboration. At any given time, Louisiana Sea Grant either manages or participates in more than 70 research, extension, education and communication projects. These include Omnibus awards; other National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-funded projects; program development projects; other federal, state and privately funded projects; and informal partnerships and collaborations.

The most important extension and outreach challenges that Louisiana Sea Grant will face during the next decade will certainly relate to sustainability of communities and ecosystems in Louisiana’s coastal zone. The 2005 (Katrina and Rita) and 2008 (Gustav and Ike) hurricane seasons, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the specter of sea level rise have revealed much about the region’s vulnerabilities. Eighty-five percent of Louisiana’s population – Louisiana Sea Grant’s primary constituency – resides in this region, which is also a major locus of strategically important maritime, refining, and petrochemical manufacturing industry.

These are challenging, yet exciting, times for Louisiana Sea Grant and its personnel. The program has dynamic leadership, a strong and dedicated support staff, extensive partnerships and funding sufficient to maintain, and even expand, its efforts to assist the residents and communities of coastal Louisiana. We invite you to give your candidacy every strong consideration.

See attached document for additional information on the position; please contact me if you have either questions or a need for additional information.

Charles A. “Chuck Wilson, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Louisiana Sea Grant College Program
Louisiana State University
Baton rouge, LA 70803
225-578-6283
cwilson@lsu.edu