Oahu resident Eric Roberts succeeds retired Athline Clark as the new National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration superintendent of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument. NOAA photo
Eric Roberts last week was appointed as the new National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration superintendent of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument. He succeeds Athline Clark who retired in 2022.
NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries said that Roberts, a resident of Oahu, previously served as deputy superintendent of the monument since September 2019, where he led a team of policy and program specialists in the day-to-day management of Papahanaumokuakea, including NOAA’s current process of national marine sanctuary designation for monument waters.
The PMNMNO is the largest contiguous fully-protected conservation area in the U.S., encompassing an area of 582,578 square miles of the Pacific Ocean, which is an area larger than all the country’s national parks combined, the news release said.
Home to the highly endangered Hawaiian monk seal, threatened green turtles, extensive coral reef habitat, and many species found nowhere else on earth, the complex and highly productive marine ecosystems of the monument are significant contributors to the biological diversity of the ocean.
Prior to joining NOAA, Roberts worked as a civilian for the U.S. Coast Guard as the Living Marine Resources Policy and Research Specialist. He was responsible for developing District Fourteen’s first official Marine Protected Resources program that served as the flagship program for the entire Coast Guard, the news release said.
With eight years of prior active duty service, he also completed four years at-sea aboard two Coast Guard cutters.
As a civilian, Roberts also worked for the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Marshals Service. He earned a Master of Public Administration degree with a concentration in oceanography from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and is a graduate of the Federal Executive Board’s Senior Leaders Program.
PMNMNO is part of America’s National Marine Sanctuary System, a network of underwater areas encompassing more than 620,000 square miles of marine and Great Lakes waters. The network includes a system of 15 national marine sanctuaries and two marine national monuments.
The monument is cooperatively managed by NOAA Fisheries, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of Aquatic Resources and Division of Forestry and Wildlife, and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.
Keola R. Whittaker – Joins Cades Schutte LLP 
Oahu resident Eric Roberts succeeds retired Athline Clark as the new National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration superintendent of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument. NOAA photoToday's breaking news and more in your inbox
The Maui News Maui County Department of Finance Director Scott Teruya was placed on administrative leave on last ...
Holy Innocents Episcopal Church, formerly on Front Street in Lahaina Town and destroyed by the fire, announced the ...
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7rq3UoqWer6NjsLC5jqecsKtfobykrctmpZ6vo2R%2FcX6SaGdtZ5WntqR50aiZnqqkqHqivM%2BooKeslZl6qbHAnWSonl2lrrGtx5qlmq2dpLi2rcqemGalkae2r7GMp5itoZ%2Bjrq15zKilrqWVo8Fw