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 will harness 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 will provide innovative approaches to solving ocean-related societal challenges. 

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

A 10-year strategic plan guides 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 strive to bridge key faculty resources across Oregon State's 11 colleges, Graduate 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 will not only connect students and faculty to communities along the Oregon coast and inland, it will also deliver unprecedented impact and opportunity nationally and internationally. 

In Corvallis, the Marine Studies office is located in Strand Agricultural Hall Suite 300. At the Oregon coast, leadership and staff are 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 appreciate the contributions by marine studies affiliated faculty and staff from across campus, who are 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!