About | Staff

NOAA Aquaculture Program Staff

Staff at NOAA Fisheries:

Michael Rubino:
Dr. Michael Rubino is the manager of the NOAA Aquaculture Program in Silver Spring, Maryland. He joined NOAA in late 2004 to lead NOAA’s renewed commitment to marine aquaculture. Dr. Rubino represents the Department of Commerce on the executive committee of the U.S. Joint Subcommittee on Aquaculture. Prior to joining NOAA, Dr. Rubino was the manager of New Funds Development for the World Bank's Carbon Finance Group. In the 1990s, Dr. Rubino was at the International Finance Corporation, a private sector affiliate of the World Bank, where he developed renewable energy and biodiversity investment funds. Earlier he was the CEO of Bluewaters, Inc., an aquaculture R&D company, and a partner in Palmetto Aquaculture, a shrimp farm in South Carolina. Dr. Rubino also served as vice-chairman of the State of Maryland's Aquaculture Advisory Committee. He holds a Ph.D. in Natural Resources from the University of Michigan.

Susan Bunsick:
Susan Bunsick is a Policy Analyst with the NOAA Aquaculture Program in Silver Spring, Maryland, where she leads legislative and regulatory initiatives in support of marine aquaculture. Ms. Bunsick has been supporting NOAA aquaculture activities since 2001, after completing a Master's degree in Marine Policy at the University of Delaware. While at the university, she co-authored a major study that developed recommendations for a regulatory framework for offshore aquaculture in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone. For most of the 1980s and 1990s, she conducted energy market and industry studies for the Department of Energy. She began her career as an emergency preparedness specialist and later a budget analyst at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, following completion of an M.A. in Public Affairs from the George Washington University and a B.A. in Public Service from the Pennsylvania State University.

David O'Brien:
David O’Brien has served as the Program Coordinator for the NOAA Aquaculture Program in Silver Spring, Maryland, since 2006. He coordinates budget and planning activities within the program. A fishery biologist by training, Mr. O'Brien worked for the NOAA Fisheries Office of Protected Resources for six years before joining the Aquaculture Program. His prior activities include conducting fisheries research at the University of Massachusetts, Pennsylvania State University, and the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory. He also served as a NOAA Sea Grant fellow and worked as an aquaculture extension agent as a Peace Corps volunteer in Cameroon, west Africa. Mr. O'Brien has an M.S. in Fisheries from the University of Maryland.

Kate Naughten:
Kate Naughten has been the Outreach Coordinator for the NOAA Aquaculture Program in Silver Spring, Maryland, since 2005. Ms. Naughten coordinates the program’s internal and external outreach and communications. Prior to her joining the Aquaculture Program at NOAA, Ms. Naughten coordinated strategic communications for the congressionally-mandated U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy from 2002 to 2005. She joined the NOAA Fisheries Service in April 2000, after working for eight years as the communications director for the federal-state Chesapeake Bay Program in Annapolis, Maryland. She has a B.A. in Media Communications from Loyola College in Baltimore, Maryland.

Kevin Amos:
Kevin Amos has served for the past seven years as the Aquatic Animal Health Coordinator for the NOAA Aquaculture Program. Mr. Amos is NOAA’s technical representative on the Joint Subcommittee on Aquaculture’s Task Force developing the National Aquatic Animal Health Plan in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Prior to his work for NOAA, he directed the aquatic animal health program for the State of Washington, Department of Fish and Wildlife. Mr. Amos has served in many capacities outside NOAA including as a consultant to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, and as a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association’s Aquatic Veterinary Medicine Advisory Committee. He earned a Master of Science in fish pathology from the University of Idaho.

Bruce Morehead:
Bruce Morehead is currently a consultant to the NOAA Aquaculture
Program. Prior to joining the Aquaculture Program in 2005, Mr. Morehead worked for the NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in a variety of capacities for over 30 years. He held management positions in the areas of fishery development, seafood safety, utilization research, fishery disaster relief and fishery management where he served as Deputy and Acting Director for the NMFS Office of Sustainable Fisheries before retiring from federal service. From 1995 to 2004, his Sustainable Fisheries Office responsibilities included the coordination of NMFS aquaculture activities. Mr. Morehead holds a M.B.A. from American University and a B.A. from Gettysburg College with a major in Economics.

Mark Carter:
Mark Carter is currently serving as a Knauss Sea Grant Fellow for the NOAA Aquaculture Program in Silver Spring, Maryland. Mr. Carter provides assistance for all aspects of the program, including public outreach and website content. His previous experience includes monitoring benthic macroinvertebrates for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and fish ecology research on Lake Michigan. Mr. Carter is nearing completion of a M.S. in Natural Resources and Environmental Science from the University of Illinois.

Staff at NOAA Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR):

Andy Lazur:
Dr. Andy Lazur has been the OAR/Sea Grant representative to the NOAA Aquaculture Program since 2007. He coordinates the National Marine Aquaculture Initiative competitive grants program and several of NOAA's international aquaculture exchange programs. He is also the liaison for the NOAA Aquaculture Program to Sea Grant and USDA marine extension agents. Since 2001, Dr. Lazur has also served as Associate Professor and Aquaculture Specialist with the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science in Cambridge, Maryland, where he conducts aquaculture research. His areas of expertise include sturgeon restoration, fish hatchery and culture systems technology, aquatic plant culture, integrated nutrient management applications, water quality management, economics and marketing for aquaculture, and good aquaculture management practices. He holds a Ph.D. in Aquaculture and Fisheries from Auburn University.

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