Heather just graduated from UC Santa Barbara’s Bren School of Environmental Science and Management in December 2009 after completing her dissertation on the effects of natural oil seeps on marine populations and communities.  During graduate school she also managed to participate on a voyage in the famous Alvin submarine to access deepwater oil and gas seeps, embark on a trip to the North Pacific Gyre (AKA Great Pacific Garbage Patch) to examine the extent and ecological effects of marine debris (especially plastic), and travel to Istanbul to study the history, politics, social dynamics, ecological effects, costs and benefits of restoring the Golden Horn estuary.  Before that she led scuba volunteers in giant kelp restoration, educated elementary and middle school students in hands-on marine science, and organized coastal cleanups for Los Angeles county.

Heather’s goals with PacMARA are to provide sound scientific advice on the use of ecosystem-based management and marine spatial planning in a BC context, lead development and delivery of training programs in marine spatial planning, research best practices for sound integrated marine planning, and add support to business planning and fundraising efforts.