John is highly respected in the emergency response community and a trusted leader of people, programs, and resources. Previously, he served as Regional Operations Branch Chief for ERD. He has 30 years of environmental and disaster response expertise, and 23 years of professional experience as supervisor and manager of scientific teams at the state and federal level. He has planned for and responded to incidents at the local, regional, and national level.

John is also a strong advocate for programs and staff. He currently manages a team of 15 scientists, NOAA Corps Officers, and technicians located throughout the country who respond to 150-200 pollution incidents annually. He has extensive experience with a wide range of scientific services supporting preparedness and response to ocean and coastal pollution and emergencies, all requiring extensive interagency and interdisciplinary collaboration.

John currently serves as a Department of Commerce/NOAA representative to the National Response Team (NRT). He is on the NRT Preparedness Committee and the National Environmental Compliance sub-committee, and is also the alternate representative for Regional Response Team 9.

John holds a B.S. in Biochemistry from Colorado State University and M.S. in Marine Ecology from San Jose State University. Prior to joining OR&R in 2005, he served at the state level for 15 years, as both a senior environmental scientist and marine biologist focusing on spill prevention and response for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Now with more than 30 years of experience in pollution response and management, contingency planning, natural resource damage assessment, and habitat restoration at state and national levels, John has responded to and managed hundreds of oil and chemical spills across the nation, including the Exxon Valdez and Deepwater Horizon, and international incidents in Peru, Bangladesh, South Korea, and elsewhere.

In his years with ERD, John’s work has been recognized with a number of high-level awards, including: a a Partners in Conservation award in 2012 from the Department of the Interior for outstanding conservation achievements with the Multi-Agency Rocky Intertidal Network; a Department of Commerce Bronze Medal in 2014 for his work as part of a team to completely overhaul NOAA’s oil spill Shoreline Cleanup and Assessment Technique (SCAT) program, resulting in national leadership in spill response training and execution; the respected Legacy Award from the Pacific States-British Columbia Oil Spill Task Force in 2019 recognizing John’s significant and long standing contributions to the spill response community in the Pacific Basin; and the prestigious Department of State Honor Award in 2022 for his work as part of the National Response Team (NRT) supporting environmental crises in other nations.

“Although I’ve been with ERD for several years, I feel that I still have a lot to contribute,” John explains. “This opportunity feels right and I’m ready to lead this great team of experts forward in planning for and responding to an ever-expanding list of pollution threats to the environment. We have an incredible pool of talent and expert tools to make a difference in the nation’s preparedness and response capabilities. I’m looking forward to the challenges and opportunities ahead.”