Contributors

Dr. Sandra Brooke

A native of the United Kingdom, Dr. Sandra Brooke grew up with an interest in veterinary medicine, but her first job in the Cayman Islands set her life on a different track: oceanography. After falling in love with diving in the Caymans, Sandra returned to school and earned her master’s degree in marine biology from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, plus a Ph.D. from the Southampton Oceanography Center (UK). Now in a career that has spanned a couple continents and both U.S. coasts, Sandra is a research faculty member at Florida State University’s Coastal and Marine Laboratory.

Sandra’s primary research is on coral reefs from shallow waters to the deep sea. Her focus is on understanding their distribution, abundance, physiology and life histories, as well as how they are affected by anthropogenic impacts. “Corals are important components of deep-sea hard-bottom habitats, and like their shallow counterparts, they are being impacted by various human activities.”

“Deep sea research is logistically difficult and expensive, but through a combination of in situ observations, laboratory experiments and environmental monitoring, we can begin to define the factors that drive the distribution of deep sea corals and predict how that might change in the future.”

She has worked on deep-water coral ecosystems in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, Norwegian fjords, South Atlantic Bight and Gulf of Mexico, including the conduct of post-Deepwater Horizon oil spill damage assessment. Sandra also worked on shallow corals along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of Florida.

Most recently Sandra has begun working on another imperiled ecosystem in much shallower waters. Oyster reefs were once extensive and valuable components of estuarine ecosystems globally. Now almost 85% of these reefs have been lost, at great economic and ecological cost. She is the principle investigator of the Apalachicola Bay Systems Initiative, an $8 million project to revive the Apalachicola Bay ecosystem, and hopefully, the region’s famed oyster industry.

Joseph Ierna Jr.

The co-founder of Ocean Crest Alliance, Capt. Joseph Ierna Jr. grew up in St. Petersburg, Florida, on the Gulf of Mexico. A graduate of St. Pete Catholic High, Joe had a passion for the ocean early in life; ultimately, the ocean would become his playground, classroom and office. A husband and father, Joe is passionate about surfing, fishing, diving, sailing and farming. A veteran in the yachting sector with a U.S.C.G. 500-ton license (retired), Ierna is a graduate of Westlawn Institute of Marine Technology, with a degree in yacht design and naval architecture. Joe’s professional career on the oceans spans 43 years — he successfully navigated the globe’s oceans, captained yacht fleets, took part in yacht design and construction projects, and served on a build team for the Americas Cup. Now based on Long Island, Bahamas, Joe and wife Nicola are both part of the OCA team working tirelessly towards development and the establishment of a Research

and Education Facility in support of the proposed 257,000-acre Marine Protected Area (MPA), known as the Long Island Marine Management Area (LIMMA). ‘’While building our property in the Bahamas, we had the vision to build a facility that would be used for conservation research, science, education and technology programs — or as we call them, CREST activities,” says Joe. “We wanted to support and provide opportunity to the community we loved, our home, and it became our first EShare program driver towards building financially Joseph Ierna Jr. and wife Nicola sustainable blue economy properties around the globe. We consider ourselves stewards of Long Island’s land and sea, and we believe that we have a responsibility to treat it with the highest level of care and respect.” Ocean Crest Alliance is a nonprofit organization dedicated to honor, protect and restore the health of the world’s oceans and the life of the earth’s systems. Visit oceancrestalliance.org for more information.