We are pleased to welcome Drs. Rod Fujita, Kendra Karr, and Michael Orbach as adjunct faculty! They each bring incredible bodies of work in coastal science and policy and may serve as faculty co-mentors on capstone projects, thus expanding the expertise available to our students. Please learn more about them below:
Dr. Rod Fujita is a marine ecologist with experience in wetlands, coral reefs and systems ecology. He is currently studying the safety and efficacy of approaches for drawing down atmospheric carbon dioxide in order to slow the rate of climate change. He has authored over 80 peer-reviewed papers and two books. He has received numerous awards for his work over his 36+ year career at the Environmental Defense Fund as Senior Scientist and Director, Ocean Innovations. Dr. Fujita now runs his own consultancy firm, Ocean Innovations.
Dr. Kendra Karr is an interdisciplinary marine scientist who bridges data-driven science and practical solutions emphasizing equity, diversity, and inclusion for frontline communities in marine and coastal systems. Her primary areas of focus are 1) sustainable fishery management with a focus on data-limited small-scale fisheries, 2) transitioning fisheries to ecosystem-based fisheries management, 3) balancing spatial conservation strategies for diverse ocean users, and 4) building healthy, equitable, and sustainable blue food systems through science-based, participatory decision-making processes. Kendra’s work informs marine resource management and policy reform, and spans multiple regions, including Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, Central America, and South America. For over a decade, Kendra was the lead of regional science as the Senior Scientist with the Environmental Defense Fund where she worked with governments, industry, conservation groups, and communities to co-develop science-based solutions.
Dr. Michael K. Orbach is Professor of the Practice Emeritus of Marine Affairs and Policy in the School of the Environment at Duke University. His BA is in Economics from the University of California at Irvine, and his MA and PhD are in Cultural Anthropology from the University of California at San Diego. From 1976-79 he was Social Anthropologist and Social Science Advisor with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Washington, D.C. From 1979-82 he was Associate Director of the Center for Coastal Marine Studies at the University of California at Santa Cruz. From 1983-93 he was Professor of Anthropology in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology and Senior Scientist with the Institute for Coastal and Marine Resources at East Carolina University. He joined Duke, with offices at the Duke Marine Laboratory in Beaufort, North Carolina, in 1993, and served as Director of the Marine Lab from 1998 to 2006, and as Director of the Coastal Environmental Management Program from 1993 to 2014. Mike has performed research on, and has been involved in development and implementation of, coastal and marine policy on all coasts of the U.S. and in Mexico, Central America, Europe, the Caribbean, Alaska and the Pacific, Europe and Asia and has published widely on social science and policy in coastal and marine environments.