Heather Deese Joins Island Institute as Director of Marine Programs

Dr. Heather Deese has joined the Island Institute as director of the organization's marine programs.  She will replace Jennifer Litteral, who will now assume the duties of policy director for the Institute and oversee advocacy efforts in all areas that affect the sustainability of Maine's year-round island and remote coastal communities.  Dr. Deese has recently completed her doctoral studies in oceanography at the University of Maine, publishing a dissertation on salinity and stratification in the Gulf of Maine from 2001 to 2009. 

As head of marine programs, she will lead efforts in the area of science translation, helping community leaders, and policy makers arrive at informed, science-based decisions on marine-related issues by contributing on a regular basis to the resources provided through the Institute's publications.  She will also lead a Maine Sea Grant-funded project to gather all community-use data layers between Pemaquid and Isle au Haut, which will result in a community-use atlas to complement all of the biophysical data.  Dr. Deese will also manage the Institute's varied marine programs, specifically its partnership with the Maine Lobstermen's Association, its permit-banking initiative in collaboration with The Nature Conservancy, and the community-fisheries work associated with coast-wide efforts to assist the state's lobster industry develop a new business model.

Robert Snyder, vice-president of programs at the Island Institute, is delighted to welcome Deese on board.  "With Jennifer Litteral moving into a leadership role with our policy work, it's really critical to have someone of Heather's caliber heading up our marine programs team - I'm especially excited about her ability to translate complex scientific concepts into understandable terms for all of our constituencies."