Port Orford Field Station Advisory Board

 

The Port Orford Field Station (POFS) Advisory Board helps ensure the station achieves its mission as a hub that supports student learning, scientific research, community priorities, and economic opportunities. The station aims to foster coastal stewardship and sustainability by supporting access to the region’s unique marine and terrestrial ecosystem. 

Advisory Board members are drawn from the south coast region and from a range of coastal interests: private sector, community groups, local government, resource management agencies and others with a stake in Oregon's south coast and surrounding waters. The Board typically meets annually as a group, with individual members performing additional duties as needed. 

Advisory Board tasks:

  • Applies technical, professional knowledge, and experiential knowledge in shaping the vision and trajectory of the station. 
  • Applies technical, professional knowledge, and experiential knowledge to advise the POFS manager on issues related to the POFS mission.
  • Actively promotes the value of the station within the university, on the coast, within the region and state, and helps build the capacity of the station. 
  • Reviews funding proposals, and makes funding recommendations to the Station Manager. 

Operating principles:

  • Board members bring their knowledge, representing themselves only, in guiding, planning, evaluating, communicating, and promoting the station. 
  • The Board benefits from a diversity of individuals, including differences in personal and work experience (e.g., industry, academia, government, non-profit). 
  • Board activities benefit significantly from active participation by its members. Should a member be unable to participate in POFS activities for a period of a year or more, a replacement will be sought. 
  • Given continually changing environments and circumstances, the POFS benefits from both continuity and new perspectives. Members will generally serve staggered two-year terms, and could be renewed for additional two-year terms, pending discussion with the Steering Group. 
  • Board members serve at the pleasure of the Steering Group and are appointed by the OSU's Marine Studies Initiative Executive Director. 
  • The identification of prospective new members of the Board will be sought from among community stakeholders as appropriate. 
  • Maintaining the integrity of the review process is critical to ensuring the best science and students are supported. In any situation where a Board member has a conflict of interest with a proposed effort, they are expected to self declare such conflicts and will be excused from the review process.

Jeff Miles 

Port Orford Commercial Fisherman

Jeff has lived in Port Orford, where he has worked as a commercial fisherman for more than 40 years. Jeff was involved in the designation of the Redfish Rocks Marine Reserve as a member of the board of directors for the Port Orford Ocean Resource Team. He has been involved in a number of collaborative research projects at the Marine Reserve, including acoustic telemetry, and now as a contracted research vessel operator for ODFW conducting hook and line fish surveys. Jeff has served on the Groundfish Advisory Panel for the Pacific Fisheries Management Council since 2012.

Dave Lacey 

Chair, Redfish Rocks Community Team

Dave operates South Coast Tours, a local kayak tour business operating on the south coast from Brookings to Port Orford, with an office on the dock at the Port of Port Orford. Dave has served on the Redfish Rocks Community Team since its founding in 2010, and was elected Chair in 2016. He is now Regional Coordinator for destination tourism for Travel Oregon.

Steve Lawton

Professor Emeritus, Oregon State University - College of Business

Steve moved to Port Orford in 2015, and has been a valued advisor to the POFS since then. He brings business knowledge and understanding of OSU administration, along with a commitment to Port Orford, and to the success of OSU’s Marine Studies Initiative.

Jan Hodder

Academic Coordinator, Oregon Institute of Marine Biology

Jan is a Senior Lecturer and the Academic Coordinator at the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology. Her research interests are diverse, ranging from the ecology of marine birds and mammals to the biological consequences of introduced species. She is the Director of the Center for Ocean Science Education Excellence (COSEE) – Pacific Partnerships, a Principal Investigator of the NSF funded OIMB Graduate Fellows in K -12 Project, and the Supporting and Advancing Geoscience Education in Two-Year College Project.