GMF STAFF: Dr. Quenton Dokken, Carrie Robertson, Bobbi Reed, Mikell Smith, Suraida Nañez-James, Ryan Fikes.
Dr. Quenton Dokken leads the GMF as President/CEO, with Ryan Fikes working as Deputy Director. Mikell Smith and Suraida Nañez-James are Project Managers. Bobbi Reed is Executive Assitant and Carrie Robertson maintains the website and newsletter.
Dr. Quenton R. Dokken, President/CEO, is uniquely qualified to lead the efforts of the Gulf of Mexico Foundation. He has been with the Foundation since its inception in 1991. Until moving from part-time to full-time with the GMF in 2006, Dokken was Associate Director of the Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi Center for Coastal Studies. While working as an adjunct professor at A&M, Dokken was also the Director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Gulf of Mexico Regional Marine Research Program.
As Deputy Director of the Gulf of Mexico Foundation, Ryan Fikes is working with federal, state, and local agencies, non-government organizations, businesses, industry and private citizens to conserve, protect and restore vital ecosystems of the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea. Through management of strategic partnerships, including the Gulf of Mexico Community-based Restoration Partnership, Gulf Ecological Management Sites Program, and the Habitat Conservation & Restoration Team of the Gulf of Mexico Alliance, Fikes is working to leverage existing resources to promote and facilitate conservation of the health and productivity of these ecosystems and their natural resources.
Bobbi Reed works on special projects, government contracts, and as program assistant to the executive director of the Gulf of Mexico Foundation. She recently retired from the federal government after more than 30 years of service.
Suraida Nañez-James is the Program Manager for the GMF’s education programs, “Down Under, Out Yonder” and “Intracoastal Waterway Wetlands Expedition.” She also assists with the GMF’s Community-based Restoration Partnership and helps with administrative tasks.
GMF Program Manager Mikell (Mike) Smith coordinates the Habitat Conservation and Restoration Team (HCRT) of the Gulf of Mexico Alliance. GMF provides support and coordination for the HCRT under grants from NOAA and EPA. Smith coordinates HCRT planning efforts and projects implemented under the team’s conservation and restoration work plan.
Carrie Robertson is the Gulf of Mexico Foundation’s webmaster, photographer and electronic newsletter editor. Ms. Robertson received a Bachelor of Journalism degree from the University of Texas in Austin in 1984 with an emphasis in photography. She started her career as a newspaper staff photographer, then began freelancing for travel and outdoor magazines and working as a webmaster.