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Louisiana Sea Grant Director Announces Departure

Photo: Dr. Charles “Chuck” Wilson

Photo Credit: LSU, Media Relations

Louisiana Sea Grant College Program Executive Director Dr. Charles “Chuck” Wilson has announced his forthcoming retirement.

Wilson, who has been Sea Grant director since 2005, will retire from Louisiana State University with nearly three decades of service this coming summer to take the position of Chief Science Officer at the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI). “I am extremely grateful to LSU for an exciting and fulfilling academic career and for opportunities that the university has afforded me over the past 28 years,” said Wilson.

“My time with Sea Grant has been especially rewarding,” he added. “Along with fostering research, education and outreach critical to Louisiana’s coastal zone, Sea Grant has responded to four devastating hurricanes, the worst oil spill in the nation’s history, as well as Mississippi River flooding. I can say it has been a pleasure to work with such a group of dedicated professionals eager to address these and other coastal issues.”

In 1985, Wilson helped establish the Louisiana Artificial Reef Initiative, which explored and led to the development of the Louisiana Artificial Reef Program (The Louisiana Fishing Enhancement Act of 1986). Over the past 20-plus years he also has served on a number of state and federal advisory boards, panels and committees concerned with fishery management and habitat issues in the Northern Gulf of Mexico.

Wilson served as chair of the LSU Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences from 1995-2002, director of the Coastal Ecology Institute from 2002-2003, and vice provost in the Office of Academic Affairs from 2003-2010. He received a Ph.D. in Marine Fisheries from the University of South Carolina in 1984.

For additional information about Dr. Wilson’s pending GoMRI appointment, visit www.gulfresearchinitiative.org.

Since its establishment in 1968, Louisiana Sea Grant has worked to promote stewardship of the state’s coastal resources. Louisiana Sea Grant, based at LSU, is part of the National Sea Grant Program, a network of 32 programs in each of the U.S. coastal and Great Lakes states and Puerto Rico/U.S. Virgin Islands.

Wilson is only the second executive director of the Louisiana Sea Grant College Program.