Gregor Hodgson is the Executive Director of Reef Check. Dr. Hodgson is a coral reef ecologist, who received his bachelors in 1979 from the University of California, Santa Barbara. From 1980-1982, he volunteered with the US Peace Corps in the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Cebu City, Philippines, and earned a PhD in zoology in 1989 from the University of Hawaii. Subsequently, Dr. Hodgson worked in Hong Kong where he served as the Environmental Sciences Manager for Binnie Black & Veatch, carrying out environmental impact assessments and baseline ecological surveys of coastal and marine areas. He designed and led integrated coastal management projects in China and Vietnam and also taught at two Hong Kong universities. From 2000 to 2004, Dr. Hodgson was a visiting professor at UCLA's Institute of the Environment and taught Environmental Science, International Coastal Management and Marine Conservation. He now works full time on marine conservation through Reef Check.
Cyndi Dawson, the central California Program Manager, has extensive experience monitoring California's nearshore rocky reefs. Cyndi received a Bachelor's degree in Marine Biology from Humboldt State University in 1996 and a Master's degree in Marine Science from San Francisco State at Moss Landing Marine Labs in 2007. Cyndi's academic research has ranged from using acoustic telemetry to determine habitat use and movement of marine organisms to the study of population dynamics of rockfish. Before returning to graduate school in 2003, she worked as a biologist for the California Department of Fish and Game for 5 years working to standardized monitoring protocols for rocky subtidal reefs in California and developing management strategies for Marine Protected Areas. Cyndi has taught Scientific Diving at Humboldt State University and Moss Landing Marine Labs and is currently an active NAUI instructor.
Fiona Nagle is the Program Manager for Reef Check California. Dr. Nagle enjoys nurturing conservation programs, has a deep concern for healthy marine habitats, and strongly advocates science-based management through collaborative environmental problem-solving. Prior to Reef Check, she spent 7 years with the Society for Conservation Biology, developing its global chapters program and creating and directing large annual outreach projects. Dr. Nagle received her Bachelors degree in Conservation & Resource Studies from UC Berkeley and her Ph.D. in Conservation Biology/Conflict Management from the University of Minnesota. Her academic pursuits have included creating a handbook of tropical resource management for Nicaraguan lobster divers, analysis of planning processes affecting a national marine park in Hawaii and watersheds in Tasmania (Australia), and developing a new framework for evaluating environmental decision-making. Born in Hawaii and raised in Los Angeles, Fiona is an avid snorkeler and surfer, former ballet dancer, and world traveler.
Jenny Mihaly, born and raised in Southern California, graduated from UCLA in 2003 with a degree in Marine Biology. In her senior year, she spent a quarter studying with other UCLA students at the Bodega Marine Laboratory in Bodega Bay, California. While there, she conducted experiments on sea anemones and flatfish. In 2003, Jenny got her SCUBA certification in beautiful Maui. She looks forward to getting more dives under her belt. Jenny currently manages the Reef Check global database while assisting the organization's many teams and coordinators.
Mary Luna - Assistant Program Manager/U.S. NGO Facilitator for IYOR 2008
Mary Luna is the Assistant Program Manager for Reef Check as well as the International Year of the Reef NGO Coordinator. Mary received her Bachelor’s degree in Biology and Minor in Geography in June 2007 from UCLA. Mary, born in Los Angeles and raised in mainland Mexico, has utilized her bilingual skills to work on Reef Check California projects involving communities in Isla Natividad and Loreto, Baja California. As an avid surfer she looks forward to traveling the world looking for clean point breaks, and spreading the word about Reef Check.
Colleen Wisniewski, the Southern California Program Manager, joined Reef Check in 2007. Colleen received her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Rutgers University. After graduation, she spent six years teaching marine biology field classes and scuba diving in the Florida Keys and on Catalina Island. Most recently, Colleen spent over five years as the Director of the Kelp Restoration and Monitoring Project at San Diego Coastkeeper. As part of a regional effort with other members of the California Coastkeeper Alliance throughout the Southern California Bight, she worked with volunteer community divers to monitor and restore local kelp forests in San Diego County. She also worked directly with over 4,000 students to teach about the importance of kelp forests. A certified diver since 1993, Colleen is an active NAUI Instructor and an AAUS Scientific Diver.
Megan Wehrenberg joined Reef Check in 2007, first as a zealous volunteer, and then quickly found her place as the Central California Volunteer Coordinator. She received a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science from the University of Florida in 2001. Since then, she has worked as an educator, scientist, and technician for a myriad of different organizations including the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve and NOAA's Marine Protected Area Center in Monterey, and Soundwaters, Inc. in the Long Island Sound. Megan is currently completing a Master's degree in Marine Science from Moss Landing Marine Labs. Although she is interested in all of the swimming, splashing, burrowing, floating creatures found in the sea, her main research interest is in marine phycology (seaweeds). Megan is an active Divemaster and AAUS scientific diver and was regularly leading dive tours in the Monterey Bay area until Reef Check came along and swept her off her feet.
Bridget Benson, the Los Angeles Region Volunteer Coordinator is thrilled to become a part of the Reef Check team! Bridget received a Bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering from California State University San Luis Obispo in 2005, graduated with a Master's degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of California Santa Barbara in 2007 and is currently a PhD student in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of California San Diego. In 2004, as part of an NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates in the field of Ocean Engineering at Florida Atlantic University, Bridget discovered it was possible to combine her engineering background with her passion - the ocean. Now, Bridget's research interests span computer engineering and aquatic sciences, focusing on building real-time communication devices and adaptive sampling techniques for monitoring lakes and oceans. Bridget became an AAUS certified diver at UCSB and is super excited to have the opportunity to keep her feet wet and continue research diving with Reef Check and all its fabulous volunteers!
Neil Hao is the Webmaster for Reef Check. He specializes in creating multimedia sites and dynamic web programming. He has 7 years of programming and software development experience and has developed nearly 250 websites including: the University of Utah, English Language Institute; North American Representative Office of Shenzhen; Long Beach City College, and Kinemetrics. Neil received a Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering in Taiwan. He has been a certified NAUI Open Water Scuba Diver since 2000.