USCRTF Co-Chairs
Nikolao Pula
Director of the Office of Insular Affairs (OIA) |
Nikolao Pula is the first individual of Samoan ancestry ever to serve as a Career (Senior Executive Service) Director of the Office of Insular Affairs (OIA) of the Department of the Interior in Washington, D.C. As the Director of OIA, Mr. Pula carries out the Secretary's responsibilities in the U.S. territories and the freely associated states. OIA is the Executive Branch's liaison with four of the five principal U.S. territories (American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands) and the three freely associated states (the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia and Palau).
As the Director of OIA, Mr. Pula is responsible for the general policies regarding insular affairs and oversight of Federal activities. In addition, Mr. Pula chairs the U.S.-Federated States of Micronesia Joint Economic Management Committee, the U.S.-Marshall Islands Joint Economic Management and Financial Accountability Committee and the Federated States of Micronesia and Marshall Trust Fund Committees, the last including membership by Taiwan. During his tenure with OIA, he has also served as a policy desk officer (August 1993-July 2000) and Acting Director (1999-2002). Prior to his tenure with DOl, Mr. Pula worked for eleven years on Capitol Hill as a special assistant to Senator Daniel K. Inouye of Hawaii, legislative assistant to Congressman Fofo I.F. Sunia of American Samoa and staff director of the Subcommittee on Public Building and Grounds of the House Committee on Public Works and Transportation; he also worked for the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms. Serving as Acting Assistant Secretary for Insular Areas since this past January 20th, Mr. Pula has held that position as well January-September 2009 and January-February and July 2014. |
Pat Montanio
Director, NOAA Office of Habitat and Conservation |
In her role as the Director of the Office of Habitat Conservation, Pat Montanio oversees the protection and restoration of habitats vital to our nation’s marine life. She first held this position from 2006 to 2011, and rejoined the office in 2015. She has more than 30 years of experience at NOAA. Previously, she was Director of NOAA’s Office of Program Planning and Integration, Deputy Director of NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration within the National Ocean Service, and Deputy Director of the NOAA Fisheries Office of Protected Resources.
|
USCRTF Steering Committee Co-Chairs
Jennifer is the Director the Coral Reef Conservation Program in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The Coral Program supports effective management and sound science to preserve, sustain and restore valuable coral reef ecosystems for future generations. As a matrixed program they bring to bear a multidisciplinary approach to conserving and understanding coral reef ecosystems with expertise, tools and programs from a wide swath of programs in all NOAA Line Offices working on coral reef issues: the National Ocean Service, the National Marine Fisheries Service, the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, and the National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service. She has a background in oceanography, biology and marine policy and have worked on coastal/marine habitat restoration and conservation issues my entire career, starting in EPA's Chesapeake Bay Program Office, moving to NOAA's Restoration Center, the Program Coordination Office of the NOAA Administrator and eventually NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program. She is also a graduate of NOAA's Leadership Competencies Development Program and have legislative experience serving two years in Senator Daniel K Inouye's Office.
|
Jennifer Koss
Director of the Coral Reef Conservation Program |
Liza Johnson joined the federal family in 2006 as a Sea Grant Knauss Marine Policy Fellow. After the fellowship, she was hired as the National Education and Outreach Coordinator for the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program, where she served for two years. In November 2009 Liza moved over to the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) to support the Ocean, Great Lakes, and Coastal Program, and in 2010 became the USCRTF Steering Committee Co-Chair representing DOI. She is also the Ocean, Great Lakes, and Coastal Program Coordinator and Senior Advisor for the National Ocean Council. Liza has a BS in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences from Georgia Institute of Technology (2002) and earned her MS degree in Environmental Studies at the College of Charleston (2005).
|
Liza Johnson
Ocean, Great Lakes, and Coastal Program Coordinator |