MSI Leadership

Welcome from the Marine Studies Initiative Leadership Team

  • Jack Barth, Marine Studies Initiative Executive Director
  • Kristen Milligan, Marine Studies Initiative Associate Director
  • Bob Cowen, Hatfield Marine Science Center Director
  • Cynthia Leonard, Marine Studies Initiative Academic Advisor
  • Jane Lubchenco,  Deputy Director for Climate and Environment in the Office of Science and Technology Policy, White House, Washington D.C. 
  • Simone Burton, Marine Studies Initiative Administrative Assistant
  • Angela Cicia, Marine Studies Initiative Academic Development Coordinator

Just as the ocean has inspired creativity for millennia, the Marine Studies Initiative harnessed people's fascination with the sea and all it touches to motivate the next generation of students and citizens. Through its collaborative, transdisciplinary programs, this initiative provided innovative approaches to solving ocean-related societal challenges. 

As the Oregon State University Marine Studies Initiative Leadership Team, we were devoted to advancing the initiative's goals of:

10-year strategic plan guided our work to develop new and enhance existing programs to achieve successful stewardship of our ocean, including the wealth of benefits it provides to people, for today and into the future. Learn more about our extensive strategic planning process...

In our work, we strived to bridge key faculty resources across Oregon State's 11 collegesGraduate School and Honors College, tap the university's institutes and centers throughout the state, and engage in new partnerships through a vast outreach and engagement network. This comprehensive mix of people, programs, and facilities not only connected students and faculty to communities along the Oregon coast and inland, it also delivered unprecedented impact and opportunity nationally and internationally. 

In Corvallis, the Marine Studies office was located in Strand Agricultural Hall Suite 300. At the Oregon coast, leadership and staff were located at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport. The Port Orford Field Station and the OSU Seafood Lab in Astoria are other Oregon State University coastal centers of education, research, and outreach and engagement. 

We deeply appreciated the contributions by marine studies affiliated faculty and staff from across campus, who were essential to the initiative's success. We look forward to our future work together to provide transformational educational experiences centered on marine studies, increase access to higher education for Oregon's coastal communities, elevate our research to even greater global distinction, sustain and enhance the state's marine-related economy and increase marine literacy across Oregon. 

Please join us as we set sail on this exciting voyage of transitioning into Marine and Coastal Opportunities!