Meet some of the team members in NOAA's Office of Habitat Conservation and get better acquainted with their work. Explore the staff profiles below to learn more about their current projects and what they find meaningful about their role in conserving habitat.
Meet Carl Alderson, Mid-Atlantic Restoration Coordinator
Carl Alderson is the Mid-Atlantic Restoration Coordinator at J.J. Howard Marine Sciences Laboratory in Sandy Hook Highlands, New Jersey. Carl works to restore habitat for American shad and other migrating fish in the northeastern United States.
Meet Carlo Canasa, IT Support Specialist
Carlo Canasa is an IT Support Specialist in Silver Spring, Maryland. He works to support and fulfill critical technological needs on a daily basis.
Meet Renee Eaton, GIS Developer
Renee is a GIS Developer working to transform the way people look at habitat policy and restoration efforts through spatial mapping and analysis.
Meet Polly Hicks, Policy, Planning, and Communications Supervisor
Polly Hicks works in Silver Spring, Maryland, as a Policy, Planning, and Communications Supervisor. She spent more than a decade at the NOAA Restoration Center’s office in Seattle, Washington, before relocating to NOAA Headquarters.
Learn more about Polly's restoration work
Meet Terill Hollweg, Marine Habitat Resource Specialist
Terill Hollweg is a Marine Habitat Resource Specialist in Seattle, Washington. She works to support habitat restoration in the Pacific Northwest.
Learn more about Terill's work
Meet Chemine Jackels, Marine Habitat Specialist
Chemine Jackels is a Marine Habitat Specialist based in Seattle, Washington, contracting for Earth Resources Technology, Inc. She works to support habitat restoration projects in the Pacific Northwest.
Learn more about Chemine's work
Meet Laurel Jennings, Marine Habitat Resource Specialist
Laurel Jennings works as a Marine Habitat Resource Specialist in Seattle, Washington. Laurel first started at NOAA in 2005 as a NOAA Corps officer and began working with the NOAA Restoration Center in 2007.
Learn more about Laurel's work
Meet Mel Landry, Marine Habitat Resource Specialist
Mel Landry leads projects restoring habitat and natural resources in Louisiana that were damaged by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Meet Krista McCraken, Marine Habitat Resource Specialist
Krista McCraken is a Marine Habitat Resource Specialist based in Charleston, South Carolina. She works to support habitat restoration and community resilience in the South Atlantic.
Learn more about Krista's work
Meet Bart Merrick, Education Coordinator
Bart Merrick is the Education Coordinator for NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office’s Environmental Science Training Center in Oxford, Maryland. He works on oyster restoration and educates others about the importance of Chesapeake Bay habitat.
Meet Alejandra Mickle-Arce, Marine Habitat Resource Specialist
Alejandra works as part of the Damage Assessment, Remediation, and Restoration Program team. After growing up on the Peruvian coast, she turned her love of the ocean, along with strong family support, into restoring coastal habitats here in the United States.
Learn more about Alejandra's work
Meet Temi Oyewole, Funds Management Specialist
Temi Oyewole is a Funds Management Specialist in Silver Spring, Maryland. Temi works with the Finance and Budget team to coordinate and track procurement and contractual actions.
Meet Robin Peuser, Supervisory Program Analyst
Robin Peuser works as a Supervisory Program Analyst at NOAA Headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland. A big part of her work is helping others understand the value of habitat.
Meet Tauna Rankin, Coral Reef Conservation Program Specialist
Tauna is a Coral Reef Conservation Program Specialist in Silver Spring, Maryland. She currently represents NOAA Fisheries in the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program, a partnership among NOAA offices to understand and conserve coral reef ecosystems.
Meet Julie Reichert-Nguyen, Natural Resources Specialist
Julie Reichert-Nguyen is a natural resources specialist with the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office in Annapolis, Maryland. She focuses on climate issues in collaboration with the Chesapeake Bay Program.
Meet Lani Watson, Marine Habitat Resource Specialist
Lani Watson is the Marine Habitat Resource Specialist in Honolulu, Hawaii. She works closely with local partners to support fisheries and protected species, healthy coral reefs, and thriving communities.
Meet Eric Weissberger, Deepwater Horizon Oyster Restoration Coordinator
Eric brings years of expertise as a shellfish biologist to his role as NOAA's oyster restoration coordinator in the Deepwater Horizon restoration program. He helps the five Gulf states and NOAA work together to rebuild oyster reefs.
Meet Stephanie Westby, Chesapeake Bay Oyster Restoration Program Manager
Stephanie grew up sailing on the Chesapeake Bay and grew to love all things water. Now, she supports large-scale oyster restoration projects on the estuary as the Chesapeake Bay Oyster Restoration Program Manager.
Learn more about Stephanie's work
Meet Erin Winslow, Marine Habitat Resource Specialist
Erin has worked at NOAA since early 2024, when she joined as a marine habitat subject matter expert conducting Essential Fish Habitat consultations. She focuses on national programmatic consultations and also leads consultations in the Pacific Islands and Southeast regions.
Meet Ian Zink, Marine Habitat Resource Specialist
Ian brings more than a decade of experience, including work in Florida’s Everglades, to restoring the Gulf after Deepwater Horizon.
