Washington Sea Grant's newest staff member, Kevin Decker, is a Coastal Outreach Specialist based in Aberdeen. As a beach goer and diver, he is not only a recreator, but through the Idaho Wildlife Federation he also has a background in recreation advocacy. He has an academic background in economic development and has developed an economic profile for Latah County, ID that looked at indicators of economic health and an evaluation of the economic contribution of the primary industries for the region. His current doctoral research in environmental science is focused on the economic value of conservation.
Kevin will be doing outreach and education about marine spatial planning to support the public's involvement in the process and also to share the mapping tool at http://msp.wa.gov. He will also be applying his background in economics to the Washington coast to help communities identify growth opportunities. At Surfrider, we are looking forward to working with Kevin through marine spatial planning.
If you’d like to meet Kevin, his office is at Grays Harbor College, and you can reach him at: kadecker@uw.edu or 360-538-2521.