James Vasslides, Ph.D.
James Vasslides, Ph.D.
Jim completed a BS in natural resource management at Rutgers University. He worked as an ecological consultant on freshwater and coastal wetland restoration and enhancement projects, threatened and endangered species surveys, and project planning and permitting. Jim realized that his calling is studying estuarine and marine fishes. He returned to Rutgers University and earned his MS in ecology and evolution before joining the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries as a Fisheries Biologist II in 2008.
He returned to New Jersey in 2010 to serve as the senior program scientist for the Barnegat Bay Partnership, one of 28 National Estuary Programs across the United States. In that role he was responsible for promoting the use of the best available science in the management and restoration of an estuary of national significance. He identified pressing research and implementation needs throughout the watershed. He also oversaw the Partnership’s long-term fisheries, habitat, and water quality monitoring programs. He returned to Rutgers and obtained a Ph.D. in ecology and evolution while working there.
Jim joined the NOAA Sandy Hook Laboratory as Habitat Ecology Branch Chief in 2023, where he focuses on the value of ocean and estuarine habitats to humans and the environment.