Leadership

Maritza Barreto, Ph.D. PG. is a Geological Oceanographer and professional geologist. She is a professor in the Graduate School of Planning, University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus and Director of the Coastal Research and Planning Institute of PR. Dr Barreto has 23 years of experience in the academia and coastal research studies in Puerto Rico (Coastal planning and Policy, beach erosion, Coastal Hazards). She was nominated by the Governor of Puerto Rico and selected as a member of the Puerto Rico Government Climate Change council.

Marc Beyeler is an experienced coastal and environmental planner and senior manager with many years’ experience managing professional, technical and administrative staff and staff teams, addressing a broad range of environmental planning projects and programs, many involving facilitation, program planning and stakeholder and public outreach. Marc currently serves as the Executive Director and Science Director for the Beach Erosion Authority for Clean Oceans and Nourishment (BEACON) in Ventura, California. BEACON is responsible for regional sediment management and coastal adaptation planning along the California Coast in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. Marc was a long-time senior executive at the California State Coastal Conservancy and has taught and conducted research at the University of California, Berkeley and Santa Cruz.

With nearly 40 years of experience in coastal and ocean engineering and a registered civil engineer in California and Hawaii, Boudreau is a Principal with Coastal Frontiers Corporation in Moorpark, California. His responsibilities include planning, engineering and construction management for a broad range of beach nourishment, regional sediment management, living shorelines, ecosystem restoration, water quality and sea level rise adaptation projects in the U.S. and throughout the Pacific Rim.

Derek Brockbank is Executive Director of Coastal States Organization (CSO), which represents the nation’s Coastal States, Territories, and Commonwealths on ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes issues. With two decades of experience in Washington DC on coastal adaptation policy and organizational development, Derek is connecting state coastal management programs with federal agencies and resources in order to address the greatest coastal challenges facing society. Derek previously served as Executive Director for the American Shore & Beach Preservation Association (ASBPA) where he led the strategic planning and outreach, government affairs, and development goals of the nation’s leading organization advocating for beach and coastal restoration. Prior to starting with ASBPA, Derek worked as campaign director for a coalition effort to restore the Mississippi River Delta and Coastal Louisiana, and was part of a gulf-wide campaign to pass the RESTORE Act, securing billions of dollars for Gulf Coast restoration. This followed up on his work with National Wildlife Federation on climate adaption. Derek grew up in New York City and got his coastal education from an early age playing on the beaches of Long Island, and kayaking and fishing in Peconic Bay.

Coastal engineer for CDM Smith working as a technical and project manager for company-wide coastal studies. Caufield has over 10 years’ experience in the technical and permitting aspects of beach nourishment and other coastal projects. Caufield has worked with various stakeholders from federal agencies down to the community and individual homeowners.

Mr. Douglass has visited almost every beach in this country and wrote the book “Saving America’s Beaches: The causes of and solutions to beach erosion.”  Douglass is the founder of South Coast Engineers, a coastal engineering consulting firm in Fairhope, Alabama and an Emeritus Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of South Alabama. His experience includes coastal infrastructure resilience assessment and design, beach erosion solutions and living shoreline designs.

 Associate Director, Urban Coast Institute, Monmouth University, West Long Branch, New Jersey. He holds a B.E. in Civil Engineering and a M.E. and Ph.D. in Ocean Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology. He is currently Vice President of NSBPA and presently serves on the FEMA Region II Coastal Outreach Advisory Team, the New Jersey Coastal Resilience Collaborative, Barnegat Bay Partnership Land Use Panel, and is on the Board of Directors of the Jersey Shore Partnership, and the New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium.