New Alaska Sea Grant leaders named
June 4, 2013
907-474-7208
6/5/13
Alaska Sea Grant at the University of Alaska Fairbanks School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences will welcome two new leaders this summer. Effective July 1, Paula Cullenberg will become the new Alaska Sea Grant director and Ginny Eckert will fill the role of associate director for research.
“There is no other individual within the University of Alaska system who has such substantial ties with the Sea Grant concept in Alaska,” said SFOS Dean Michael Castellini, “Paula has a long and deep knowledge of the community interactions that are integral to this position in Alaska.”
Cullenberg has served as the Alaska Sea Grant associate director since 2007 and the program leader for the SFOS Marine Advisory Program since 2004. Cullenberg also currently serves as co-chair of the UA Fisheries, Seafood and Maritime Initiative.
“Because of her Alaska background and her past leadership roles in the school, she is an excellent choice to be the next Alaska Sea Grant director,” said Castellini.
Prior to leading MAP, Cullenberg directed the North Pacific Fishery Observer Training Center at the University of Alaska Anchorage, and was the Bristol Bay MAP agent. She is a 30-year Alaska resident and participates in the Bristol Bay setnet fishery with her family. Cullenberg will replace retiring director David Christie, who has led Alaska Sea Grant since 2008.
“Alaska Sea Grant is a positive force in our state,” said Cullenberg. “We reach out to all of our coastal communities and work with local residents on pressing issues. We support students, contribute new knowledge through our research and offer resources to our teachers.”
SFOS faculty member Eckert is an associate professor of fisheries, working at the SFOS Juneau Center. Her specialties include early life ecology and the management and aquaculture of commercially important marine invertebrates. She is also director of the NSF-funded Interdisciplinary Graduate Education and Research Training Program in Marine Ecosystem Sustainability in the Arctic and Subarctic.
Alaska Sea Grant is a partnership between UAF and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that supports marine research and provides extension services to coastal communities around Alaska and is one of 32 Sea Grant programs throughout the nation.
ADDITIONAL CONTACTS: Paula Cullenberg, 907-274-9692, paula.cullenberg@alaska.edu
ON THE WEB: www.seagrant.uaf.edu