MCRI Board of Directors
Mr. Craig M. Taylor
Oceanwize LLC
Almost every aspect of life in the oceans has long fascinated me. I have participated in and supported efforts to improve science based education specific to marine conservation in the New York City school system, participated in marine science research with the American Museum of Natural History and most recently working with a team of global based scientists developing methodologies to bring scientific data to design of Marine Protected Areas.
Prior to college I worked in the number of summer capacities starting with a position at a field station of the American Museum of Natural History located on Bimini Island studying feeding behavior of tropical fish. I spent a summer on the RV Westward (based out of Woods Hole Massachusetts) taking census of marine mammal life around the coast of Newfoundland. Another summer I worked in the Vancouver Public Aquarium in Vancouver BC maintaining aquarium exhibits and catching/transporting specimens for display (two weeks of the summer was spent living with Eskimos 600 miles north of the Arctic Circle studying the logistics of capturing/transportation narwhals for aquarium display).
In 1994, I became a Trustee of The Wildlife Conservation Society (based in New York City). The Wildlife Conservation Society is the largest science based conservation organization in the world with a 100-year history of demonstrated successes. The foundation/mission of the Society is based upon three areas of focus: Conservation, Science and Education. The organization runs not only the largest urban zoo system the world but maintains a presence in 72 countries around world with 150 separate science based conservation projects. The Society also provides science based conservation curriculum to every state in the union and many countries including China. WCS has an annual operating budget in excess of $120 million. I have been Chairman of the Aquarium Marketing and Support Committee overseeing the New York Aquarium, Chairman Ecotourism Subcommittee member of the Marketing and Communications Committee, and a member of the International Conservation Steering Committee overseeing WCS's global research projects.
In November 2001, I was invited to live aboard Aquarius the only underwater research habitat in the world, which is owned by NOAA and operated by the National Undersea Research Center at the University of North Carolina in Wilmington. The purpose of this one-week expedition was to electronically tag different fish species underwater and track them in real-time. This project demonstrated that it is possible to track multiple species across large reef areas, and could form the basis for scientifically supporting the design of Marine Protected Areas ("MPAs") in the future. I'm currently working with this same group of scientists (four of whom are Pew Fellows) to further develop these methodologies and technologies and to develop an informational "tool kit" for other scientists to apply on a global basis to help design MPAs based upon scientific data.
I'm also involved in a national education initiative called The Ocean Project whose mission is to "create in people a lasting, measurable, top of the line awareness of the importance, value, and sensitivity of the oceans". The overarching policy of The Ocean Project is "to select positive messages chosen to interest, inspire wonder, increase our understanding of the oceans, and create in people a personal rationale that makes Ocean conservation sensible and compelling". The plan to accomplish this challenging mission will be to work through and with partner institutions including aquariums, zoos, and science, technology, and natural history museum's to help the visitors develop an interest and caring attitude that will encourage them to take action for Ocean conservation through existing channels of these partner organizations. The Wildlife Conservation Society is a member institution.
My family and I are new to the Santa Barbara community having moved here from Connecticut in June of 2002. We have always wanted to live the Santa Barbara; our respective families are from Los Angeles and I went to Cate School in Carpinteria. We have four boys' ages seven years to seventeen all of whom share my love and interest in the ocean.
