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Board of Directors
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Marine Applied Research & Exploration (MARE) was
established in early 2003 by Dirk Rosen, David Jeffrey
and Sandra Gross. MARE's survey work and development is
overseen by a talented and dedicated Board of Directors
whose expertise spans both marine ecology and technology.
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F. Gregg Bemis, Jr.
F. Gregg Bemis served for 25 years in top management of
three Fortune 500 companies. He was actively engaged in
Venture Capital operations, including founding his own
ocean related venture fund starting in 1968. He has been
a principle in the founding and management of over 40
companies. For the last 30 years he has been a Director,
Chairman and principle owner of The Ocean Corporation,
the world’s leading educational facility for commercial
divers. He has carried on extensive research and investigations
on two of the world’s greatest maritime disasters:
the Lusitania, sunk in 1915 and the Estonia, sunk in 1994.
He is currently actively involved in five small companies
and participates extensively in regional economic development
in New Mexico. He has a Masters Degree from the Harvard
Business School.
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Sandra J. Gross
Sandra has over fifteen years of experience
in program development, implementation and evaluation,
as well as policy, research and advocacy work with non-profit
and governmental organizations. She has extensive experience
in fund raising and strategic planning with small non
profit organizations. Sandra is currently an independent
consultant serving governmental and nonprofit agencies
throughout the state and nation.
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David Jeffrey
David was born and educated in Scotland, receiving
a Masters degree from Edinburgh University. After some
years in London, he returned to Edinburgh University to
work in Artificial Intelligence, followed by nine years
as a research fellow in the Edinburgh Wave Power Project.
He moved to the United States in 1983 to work (along side
Dirk Rosen) for Deep Ocean Engineering (DOE), spending
over 20 years with the company, and ultimately becoming
Vice President of Research and Development. At DOE he
was responsible for the design and development of ‘Phantom’,
the ROV used on all MARE expeditions so far (January 2007).
He is one of the founding board members of MARE and currently
works with Hawkes Ocean Technologies on the design of
advanced manned submersibles.
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Marc
Lopata
Marc joined the MARE Board of Directors in 2004. He brings
with him over 25 years' professional experience in the areas
of science, engineering, marine technology and operations,
commercial fisheries, aquaculture, and navigation / telecommunications
/ telemetry systems. He was a Principal Engineer at Harbor
Branch Oceanographic Institution (Ft. Pierce, FL), and has
managed a diverse portfolio of engineering and construction
projects in the marine environment, ranging from dredging
of contaminated marine sediments to acoustic searches for
ancient ship wrecks to the design of aquarium exhibits and
life-support systems. Marc is a licensed professional engineer,
with a bachelor's degree in ocean engineering and a master's
degree in civil engineering. He holds a patent in robotic
dredging vehicle systems and intellectual property rights
to a knot. Marc has been active in the nonprofit world since
1980, serving a variety of organizations as board member,
technician, and educator. He has also served on several
governmental commissions in emergency preparedness, stormwater
management, and information technology implementation. |
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Maria Rea
Maria joined the MARE Board of Directors in 2004. She
has over 20 years of government experience in natural
resources and water quality management, for both California
state and federal government. From 1999-2002, Ms. Rea
served as Assistant Secretary for Salmon and Watersheds
for the California Resources Agency. She was responsible
for policy oversight on state programs concerning coastal
salmon recovery, sustainable forest practices, and fostering
local stewardship through non-governmental watershed management
efforts. Ms. Rea currently works for the US Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), serving as senior water policy
advisor, and manages water quality related projects throughout
the Western states. Maria has worked on several regional
and national scale ecosystem programs, and brings skills
to the Board in designing and communicating scientific
projects that are closely linked to resource management
needs. Maria has a Masters degree from the Goldman School
of Public Policy at U.C. Berkeley and a Bachelors degree
in Environmental Studies from Brown University.
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Dirk Rosen
Dirk has 25 years of management, operations and design
engineering experience in marine commercial, government,
environmental and science sectors. He was president and
director of Deep Ocean Engineering before selling the
company in 2000. Prior to becoming president, he was project
manager and test pilot for all 3 “Deep Rover®”
1,000 meter-rated manned submersibles and designer/operator
of Phantom® and Bandit® Remotely Operated Vehicle
systems. While working for Oceaneering International,
Dirk managed NASA international partner’s robotic
integration into Space Station Freedom. He has a BS in
Mechanical Engineering, and is a registered Professional
Engineer.
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Phil
Stevens
Phil brings nearly twenty years' experience with nonprofit
organizations, including over a decade of fundraising in
settings ranging from small nonprofits to research universities,
during which he has secured millions of dollars of support
for science, education, and conservation. Phil is currently
Director of Resources for The Nature Conservancy's Alaska
chapter. He holds a master's degree in education from Columbia
University. |
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Ed Ueber
Ed is considered an expert on abalone, sardine,
groundfish, crab, fishery economics, fishery management,
marine protected areas and navigation. He began his ocean
career as a USN submarines navigator and later worked
in the merchant marine. He served as Manager of the Gulf
of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, Cordell Bank
National Marine Sanctuary and the northern sector of the
Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary from 1990 –
2004, managing an area of 2,900 square nautical miles.
He received three Congressional citations for exceptional
service from the 105, 107 and 108 Congress's respectively.
Mr. Ueber was one of eight senior scientists on the Master
Planning Team of the California Marine Life Protection
Act. He taught at the University of Connecticut and University
of Rhode Island receiving his Masters at the latter in
Resource Economics and Fisheries.
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Lotus A. Vermeer
For 30 years, Lotus has been dedicated to environmental protection, endangered species recovery, and environmental education. She spent over a decade in the eastern Caribbean working at a marine research institute, consulting on a range of environmental programs, and conducting research on terrestrial and marine issues. Lotus is currently the Director of The Nature Conservancy’s Santa Cruz Island Preserve and has lead the Island’s restoration efforts since 2003. A marine biologist and primatologist by training, Dr. Vermeer has spent much of her life living and working on islands off the west coast of Canada, the eastern Caribbean, the Philippines, and California’s Channel Islands. Lotus holds a Master’s degree in Marine Resource and Environmental Management, a Master’s degree in Primatology, and a Ph.D. in Marine Ecology.
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