ADVISORY BOARD

Dr. James Wood obtained his PhD at Dalhousie University. Through The Cephalopod Page, The Census of Marine Life, MarineBio.org, and CephBase, Dr. Wood has been a pioneer in online marine science education and outreach. He co-authored the book Octopus: The Ocean's Intelligent Invertebrate, a chapter in Cephalopod Cognition, and numerous scientific journal articles. Dr. Wood has worked as a faculty research scientist, has served as Director of Education at the Aquarium of the Pacific, and has served as Associate Director at the Waikiki Aquarium.

Cindi Punihaole is the Project Director for Kahaluʻu Bay Education Center (KBEC) and serves as a cultural advisor on the Kona Coast of Hawaiʻi island. Having grown up learning traditional Hawaiian values and following an unwritten social code of Pono Practice, Cindi knew that it was possible for people to coexist harmoniously with the land and sea. After witnessing first hand the anthropogenic stressors that have caused massive declines in the island’s spectacular reef ecosystem, Cindi founded KBEC to help preserve Kahaluʻu Bay for future generations. Today, under Cindi’s wise and steady leadership, KBEC hosts multiple programs engaging hundreds of volunteers in the areas of reef etiquette, history and culture, citizen science, visitor education, and marine conservation. For over a decade, Cindi has impacted over 400,000 visitors a year, in the warm spirit of aloha, by exposing them to the concept of Mālama ʻāina, to care for the land.

James Everglade is a marine biologist who received an AS in Marine Science from the College of Micronesia and a BS in Marine Science from the University of Hawaii at Hilo. As an aquaculturist at NELHA, James has worked in fish husbandry with many Hawaiian and exotic species and also in bio-secure environments culturing microorganisms. He has worked as a commercial sailboat captain and is skilled in both carpentry and welding. James is a strong advocate for marine mammal rights, an active volunteer at the Kahaluʻu Bay Education Center, and is an experienced waterman.

Gabby Lout is a doctoral student in the School for the Future of Innovation in Society at Arizona State University. She graduated with a B.S. in Marine and Conservation Biology from Seattle University and received a M.A. in Global Leadership and Sustainable Development from Hawaii Pacific University. In all of her work, she is interested in finding innovative solutions for the complex social-ecological challenges our marine environment is facing to protect the ocean and people who depend on it most. Her current research, at the nexus of human rights and conservation, is focused on current approaches to advance social responsibility and decent work in small-scale fisheries in Latin America and the Caribbean.