M. Richard (Rick) DeVoe joined the South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium, an independent state agency, in 1980, and has served as its Executive Director since 1997. The Consortium is charged with managing and administering the NOAA National Sea Grant College Program and similar programs for the state of South Carolina, and as such generates and provides science-based information to enhance the practical use and conservation of coastal and marine resources that fosters a sustainable economy and environment for the state of South Carolina and the region. Rick is also a member of the Masters in Public Administration Program Advisory Board, Associate Faculty Member of the Graduate Program in Marine Biology, and Adjunct Faculty Member with the Marine Environmental Studies Graduate Program, all at the College of Charleston; a Research Associate of the Belle W. Baruch Institute for Marine Biology and Coastal Research at the University of South Carolina; and a member of the Board of Advisors for the Center for Marine and Wetland Studies at Coastal Carolina University. He earned degrees from Fairleigh Dickinson University (B.S., marine biology), CUNY/City College of New York (M.A., biological oceanography), and the University of Rhode Island (M.M.A., marine policy).
Rick serves as a member of a number of national, regional, and state boards and committees, including the Executive Planning Team for the Governor’s South Atlantic (Ocean) Alliance, the Board of Directors of the SouthEast Coastal Ocean Observing Regional Association (SECOORA), the Board of Advisors for the Southeast Center for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence (COSEE-Southeast), and the Regulatory Task Force for Coastal Clean Energy (South Carolina Energy Office). In addition, he served as a member of the South Carolina Shoreline Change Advisory Committee (SCDHEC-Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management), and the Steering Committee for the South Carolina Ocean Planning Initiative (SCDHEC-OCRM). In addition to managing Sea Grant efforts in South Carolina, Rick’s professional interests focus on coastal and marine resource policy, state and regional coastal ocean planning and policy, ocean observing, marine aquaculture policy, science-to-management linkages, and science communication and education. Welcome Rick DeVoe!
