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, Science Director for Reef Check California, oversees diver training, manages data collection, analysis, and dissemination, and liaisons with academic and agency scientists. She has extensive experience monitoring California's nearshore rocky reefs and has been with Reef Check California since 2006. 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 was a biologist for the California Department of Fish and Game for 5 years and worked to standardize monitoring protocols for rocky subtidal reefs in California and develop 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, the Reef Check California Program Manager, is developing the program’s public policy, outreach, and education components. Dr. Nagle received her BS in Conservation & Resource Studies from UC Berkeley (1998) and her PhD in Conservation Biology/Conflict Management from the University of Minnesota (2007). Her research focused on evaluating state-level environmental decision-making in order to create socially acceptable and environmentally sustainable decisions. Other activities included creating a handbook of tropical resource management for Nicaraguan lobster divers, and analyzing planning processes that affected a national marine park in Hawaii and watersheds in Tasmania, Australia. Prior to Reef Check, Fiona was a leader in the Society for Conservation Biology for 7 years and now serves on the Board of Governors. Her responsibilities included program development, strategic planning, project and financial management, capacity-building, and community education/outreach. 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 Regional Manager, joined Reef Check in 2007 and manages the training and data collection efforts throughout Southern California. Colleen received her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Rutgers University. After graduation, she spent 6 years teaching marine biology field classes and scuba diving in the Florida Keys and on Catalina Island. Most recently, Colleen spent over 5 years as the Director of the Kelp Restoration and Monitoring Project at San Diego Coastkeeper. While there, she worked with volunteer community divers to monitor and restore local kelp forests in San Diego County as part of a southern California regional effort by the California Coastkeeper Alliance. 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 a certified AAUS Scientific Diver.
Megan Wehrenberg joined Reef Check in 2007 as the North-Central California Volunteer Diver Coordinator. She received a Bachelor's degree in Environmental Science from the University of Florida in 2001 and is currently completing a Master's degree in Marine Science from San Francisco State and Moss Landing Marine Labs. Her research has spanned the population biology of commercially valuable seaweeds to biological mitigation of invasive species spread through ships' ballast water. She has worked in the field of marine research and conservation as a technician for both NOAA's Marine Protected Areas Center and the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve. She also had a wonderful experience as a science educator aboard the floating classroom schooner Soundwaters, engaging the minds of hundreds of youth through experience-based education. Megan is an active PADI Divemaster and AAUS scientific diver.
William Golden is the Santa Barbara Volunteer Diver Coordinator and also manages Reef Check California’s Nearshore Ecosystem Database (NED), the online public-access portal for all the data collected by the program’s volunteer divers. William graduated from University of California-Santa Barbara in 1995 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Aquatic Biology. He has worked as a Marine Ecologist, Oceanographer, and Computer Technician, and his research has ranged from California to Antarctica. He is also an active SCUBA Instructor and has been diving since 1998. William’s life time experience in the ocean has inspired his commitment to enjoy, monitor, and preserve the ocean's diversity and beauty.
Bridget Benson, the Los Angeles Volunteer Diver 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!
Aniela Paneno - Accountant
Aniela Paneno graduated from U.C. Davis in 2001 with a B.S. in Animal Science that emphasized in Companion and Captive Animal Management. Before relocating to Los Angeles in 2005, she utilized her degree and diverse animal handling background as an elephant trainer and volunteered at the Marine Mammal Center. Aniela became a certified bookkeeper in 2006 and she has since enjoyed building her own business and clientele. Aniela manages Reef Check’s accounts and serves as the Human Resource Representative.
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.