Ronald S. Gird is a meteorologist with NOAA’s National Weather Service (NWS) and is responsible for the NWS Customer Outreach and Education Programs, a position held since December, 1998.  In this capacity, Gird is responsible for managing all aspects of the NWS Outreach Programs for the 122 NWS forecast offices nation wide.  He works on daily basis with NWS partners such as the American Red Cross, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, The Weather Channel, and the American Meteorological Society.  Gird is a member of the California State University-Los Angeles Satellites and Education Advisory Committee, and has served as a consultant to Time/Life Books, the National Geographic Society, and the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.  He is a member elect of the Penn State University, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences Alumni Board.  Previous assignments included managing the NWS Satellite and Spaceflight Programs, the manager at the NWS Satellite Field Service Station at the Severe Storms Prediction Center and at the NOAA Satellite Interactive Processing Branch in Washington DC.  Gird is active in the education community advising organizations; such as, USATODAY, Cobblestone Publishing, Scholastic Magazine and the NBC Washington affiliate, WRC-TV; and he frequently volunteers to make presentations to local school classes and as a science fair judge.  Gird earned his B.S in meteorology from Pennsylvania State University.

Atziri Ibanez is national education coordinator for NOAA’s National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS). She has held this position since 2003 and has led the effort to develop a national curriculum focused on estuaries. In her current position, she provides leadership and coordination on the formulation of plans for NERRS education programs at the national and site level; provides technical guidance on the development of educational and on-line products; evaluates activities and performance; leads fundraising efforts; and most recently led two national studies aimed at advancing the field of estuarine education and ocean observing data literacy. Currently, Ibanez serves on NOAA’s Education Council and Environmental Literacy Steering Committee; chairs several NERRS education related workgroups, and is co-chair of the marine and coastal strand for the North American Association for Environmental Education. Prior to joining NOAA, Ibanez worked for the Academy for Educational Development where she led the implementation of several education and communication programs in Mexico, El Salvador, Panama, Venezuela, Guatemala, Bolivia, and Peru, with special emphasis on capacity-building, behavior change, and strategic planning. She also headed National Wildlife Federation’s program for the Western Hemisphere. Ibanez is originally from Mexico where she got her degree in Economics from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. She earned a M.S. in environmental law from Vermont Law School.

Laurie McGilvray is chief of the Estuarine Reserves Division at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a position she has held since 1999. She is responsible for working with 27 existing reserves and one proposed reserve as part of the National Estuarine Research Reserve System.  She has held several other positions at NOAA, including:  acting deputy director for the Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM); co-director of the Cooperative Institute for Coastal and Estuarine Environmental Technology, a joint institute with the University of New Hampshire; policy analyst working on NOAA strategic planning and budget; and Pacific and Atlantic regional manager with OCRM’s Coastal Programs Division.  She earned a B.S. in biology from Denison University in Ohio and a M.A. in marine affairs from the University of Rhode Island. 

Marci Wulff is the national education coordinator for NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP). Wulff has been actively involved in education and outreach initiatives throughout her career. She spent many years in the tropics working for private and non-governmental organizations. Her tenure with these organizations gave her a broad range of experiences. She has done research on marine mammals and coral reef ecosystems in both Hawaii and Australia, developed an experiential education program in Costa Rica and has extensive experience in interpreting science for the general public. Wulff is responsible for leading the CRCP’s national education program which includes refining and implementing an education strategy for the program, building and maintaining strategic partnerships with key education networks, and the development and dissemination of ocean science content and tools. Since beginning her position at NOAA, Wulff has been intimately involved in building capacity for education and outreach initiatives with state and territory jurisdiction partners. She earned a B.S. in biology with an emphasis in marine science from Utah State University and the University of Oregon and a M.S. in education leadership from the University of Hawaii.