Investigative Scientist
NSF
Dwayne grew up in Ohio. He received his undergraduate degree in Zoology from UC Berkley, spending a year studying in Australia. Dwayne conducted coral reef fish ecology research in Panama and the U.S. Virgin Islands, getting his Ph.D. in marine behavioral ecology from Oregon State University. He spent 8 years as a college professor at Weber State University in Utah before moving to Hawaii and becoming Director of Research and Conservation for the Pacific Whale Foundation. Dwayne then became a coral reef ecologist and Aquatic Wildlife Conservation Planner for Hawaii. He brought his skills to NOAA, where he worked for the National Marine Fisheries Service in Silver Spring protecting endangered species and species of concern, serving as the science lead for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, and then team lead for incidental harassment authorizations. Along the way Dwayne survived the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in Thailand and got involved in marine debris and coral restoration after natural disasters and shipwrecks, deploying to Thailand, the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, Hurricane Maria relief in Puerto Rico and elsewhere.