JOHN E. PARKS

Serving as a Senior Associate focused on the provision of scientific and technical services to clients across the Indo-Pacific. Primary responsibilities include business development, project management, and field-based technical assistance at client sites across the region. Technical areas of specialization include the management and sustainable extraction of living and non-living marine resources, strengthening the security and transparency of vital natural resource supply chains, enhancing maritime domain awareness and maritime security, and countering the malign influence of foreign state and non-state actors within maritime affairs. Works closely to meet the needs of the defense and foreign service branches of the United States federal government, as well as other bilateral and multilateral donor clients. Holds an active US Government security clearance.

Tetra Tech's Senior Associates provide leadership, innovation, and excellence in scientific and technical service areas, leading project teams and mentoring staff. Senior Associates are committed to client satisfaction through technical excellence of work products and strength of leadership and managerial abilities. Tetra Tech creates practical, sustainable, and environmentally responsible solutions to address the world’s most complex challenges. Tetra Tech service areas include agricultural and economic growth; advanced energy development; environment and natural resource management; water supply and sanitation; architecture, engineering, and construction; and global security. Tetra Tech's approach is based on sound science, stakeholder engagement, capacity building, innovative technologies, and best practices.

Served as a Senior Associate within the Environment and Natural Resources sector of Tetra Tech's International Development Services. Primary responsibilities included leading new business development pursuits for Tetra Tech’s international marine and coastal resource management portfolio, supporting international project implementation and management, and providing technical assistance to field teams. Served as Project Manager of USAID Sustainable Fish Asia Technical Support Activity. Provided subcontracted technical assistance to USAID Measuring Impact II Program in support of the international implementation of the USAID Distant Water Fishing Fleet Research Agenda. Coordinated Tetra Tech field activities funded by the US Government relating to countering foreign malign influence, including through the Countering People’s Republic of China (PRC) Influence Fund. Served as interim (start-up) Project Manager for the USAID Non-Revenue Water Management Project in the West Bank, Palestine. Worked with an active security clearance to closely meet the needs of the foreign service branches of the US federal government. Held an active US Government security clearance.

Tetra Tech's Senior Associates provide leadership, innovation, and excellence in scientific and technical service areas, leading project teams and mentoring staff. Senior Associates are committed to client satisfaction through technical excellence of work products and strength of leadership and managerial abilities.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Sustainable Fish Asia  (SuFiA) Technical Support Activity was a 4-year, $9.4 million project working to improve the management of marine biodiversity and fisheries resources in the Indo-Pacific region through increased regional capacity to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. In coordination with regional, local, and U.S. Government partners, SuFiA Technical Support advanced regional fisheries policy and regulatory frameworks, promoted the regional adoption of fair labor standards and sustainable fishing practices across the seafood industry, and strengthened regional fisheries management capacity. SuFiA was a commitment made in support of the U.S. - ASEAN Strategic Partnership, reflecting the central role of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the U.S. vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific. Relevant US Government Priority Geographies in the Indo-Pacific region that were engaged under SuFiA included Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, the Solomon Islands, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam. As Chief of Party, directed all SuFiA operations and activities, managing a team of full-time staff and long-term consultants working throughout Southeast Asia in support of the USAID Regional Development Mission for Asia and US Government agency partners. Held an active US Government security clearance. 

Served as a Senior Associate within the Environment and Natural Resources sector of Tetra Tech's International Development Services. Primary responsibilities included project management within Tetra Tech's global coastal and marine resource management portfolio, business development, and the provision of field-based technical assistance to project teams operating at client sites around the world. Served as Lead Proposal Writer and (following competitive awarding) acting Chief of Party (May 2021 - September 2021) and Project Manager of the USAID Ghana Fisheries Recovery Activity. Served as Research Integrator in the implementation of the USAID Distant Water Fishing Fleet Research Agenda. Worked closely to meet the needs of the foreign service branches of the United States federal government, as well as other bilateral and multilateral donor clients. Held an active US Government security clearance.

Tetra Tech's Senior Associates provide leadership, innovation, and excellence in scientific and technical service areas, leading project teams and mentoring staff.  Senior Associates are committed to client satisfaction through technical excellence of work products and strength of leadership and managerial abilities.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Oceans and Fisheries Partnership was a regional project collaboration between USAID, the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC), the Coral Triangle Initiative for Coral Reefs, Fisheries, and Food Security (CTI-CFF), and a wide range of public and private sector partners at regional, national, and local levels in Southeast Asia. The USAID Oceans and Fisheries Partnership (USAID Oceans) Project aimed to strengthen regional cooperation in combating illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, promote sustainable fisheries management, and conserve marine biological diversity across Southeast Asia. The 5-year (May 2015 to May 2020), US$20 million project was implemented by Tetra Tech out of its offices in Bangkok, Thailand, with field teams operating from Manado and Jakarta, Indonesia and Manila and General Santos City, in the Philippines.

As Chief of Party, directed all project operations and managed a team of 30 full-time staff and long-term consultants working throughout Southeast Asia in support of USAID's Bangkok-based Regional Development Mission for Asia. Oversaw the full, on-time, and successful completion of all project objectives and deliverables, from mid-term through closeout. Project's success has been recognized through receipt of a 2019 Technology Merit Award from the Environmental Business Journal and the 2019 Tetra Tech Excellence Award for Technical Achievement. Held an active US Government security clearance.

Exoscientific (ExoSci) was a Limited Liability Company registered in the State of Hawaii (USA) focused on building humanity's capacity to thrive in challenging and hostile offworld environments. ExoSci worked in partnership with various actors from the NewSpace community, including other private start-up companies, entrepreneurs and investors, government agencies, and scientific research institutions. ExoSci addressed client-driven needs relating to offworld adaptation, habitation, and exploration through technological and strategic solutions and specialized human resource capabilities.

Marine Management Solutions (MMS) worked with local communities, indigenous leaders, resource users, government agencies, non-governmental groups, and donors to design and implement marine resource management solutions that strengthen both environmental and civil security within coastal communities around the world.

Client services provided by MMS included: (1) Developing sustainable marine resource livelihoods in post-conflict/civil unrest settings; (2) Capacity building for fisheries collaborative management and community-based marine conservation; (3) Capacity building in the design, planning, and evaluation of marine protected area (MPA) sites and networks; (4) Capacity building for climate change adaptation in coastal communities; (5) Measurement of management effectiveness and conservation impact; (6) Facilitation of agency/organization strategic planning, program development, and project design; and (7) Conducting applied, interdisciplinary research.

Core principles guiding the work of MMS included: (a) Active community involvement and participation in local management and decision-making, including by disenfranchised or marginalized stakeholders; (b) A collaborative management approach to reduce conflict, encourage peace and order, and promote the rule of law; (c) Local empowerment that encourages self-determination, well-being, and community resilience; (d) Ethnic, gender, religious, and intergenerational equity to ensure all voices are heard and full, relevant experience and knowledge is applied; and (e) A rigorous commitment to critical analysis and objectivity to provide the most useful solutions.

Current and past clients included: Big Ocean (global); the Coastal States Stewardship Foundation (U.S. Pacific Islands); Conservation International (global); the Coral Triangle Initiative (Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, the Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste); EcoAdapt (Pacific Islands); Hawaii Conservation Alliance (Hawaii); Liberia Ministry of Agriculture, Bureau of National Fisheries (Liberia); Locally Managed Marine Area Network (Fiji); Malama Maunalua (Hawaii); Marianas Trench Marine National Monument (CNMI); Maui Nui Marine Resource Council (Hawaii); Partners for Global Research and Development (Pacific Islands; global); Planning Consultants of Hawaii (Hawaii); Social Solutions International, Inc. (Pacific Islands); State of Hawaii, Division of Aquatic Resources (Hawaii); Tetra Tech ARD (Southeast Asia; Pacific Islands); National Marine Sanctuary Foundation (U.S.); The Nature Conservancy (Hawaii); The Sasakawa Peace Foundation (Japan; global); Tonga Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Forests, and Fisheries (Tonga); The University of Washington (global); U.S. Agency for International Development (Regional Development Mission for Asia; Pacific Islands Region); U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (U.S. Pacific Islands); and World Wildlife Fund (global).

Position Level: Director 1
Chapter Office: Hawaii
Program: Community-based Marine Conservation
Primary Responsibilities:

(1) Marine program management, including: (a) guidance and oversight of staff (5 direct reports; 9 total staff); (b) financial management and grants administration; (c) program and staff performance management; and (d) external and internal technical reporting. Reported to the Senior Director of Hawaii's marine team (both community-based marine and research and science programs).

(2) Day- to-day advising and guidance to staff on community-based marine conservation projects around Oahu, Maui, and Hawaii Island. Included leading team in strategic project planning, development of effectiveness measures, and the provision of on-site technical assistance to local project partners and community groups.

(3) Management of marine program fundraising efforts, including prospective funding partnership strategy development, grant writing and submission, and donor relationship development and maintenance. Raised US$5.2 million in program funding in 2 years, including a US$3.4 million award made under the U.S. American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 that cleared 26 acres of invasive algae for coral reef restoration and created/supported 80 jobs.

(4) Provision of technical assistance, upon request, to TNC Offices and partners in Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia, including in support of the Conservation Society of Pohnpei, the Micronesia Challenge, and the Palau Conservation Society.

Received the highest level of staff performance evaluation ratings possible throughout duration of responsibilities.

Title: Coastal Management Specialist for the Pacific Islands

Level: GS-12 Step 3 (federal civil service)

Line Office: National Ocean Service

Duty Stations: Honolulu, Hawaii and Silver Spring, Maryland

Primary Duties:

(1) Served as lead federal government representative on the implementation of the national Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (Pub.L. 92-583, 86 Stat. 1280; 16 U.S. Code § 1451-1464, Chapter 33) within the U.S. Pacific Island jurisdictions of the State of Hawaii, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Territory of Guam. Supported coastal resource management efforts on behalf of the U.S. government within the three Freely Associated States of Micronesia: the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau.

(2) Served as the designated federal grants management officer charged with oversight and management of >US$8 million in annual, active federal award funding provided (via Congress) to the U.S. Pacific Island jurisdictions in support of new and ongoing coastal resource management programs and coral reef management projects. Coordinated financial management accounting and reporting with the U.S. Treasury Department on behalf of NOAA's Coastal Programs Division with respect to coastal management grants made to the U.S. Pacific Islands. Completed all required federal grants management and procurement training associated with the duties of the federal position.

(3) Built international marine and coastal resource management capacity on behalf of the U.S.
government in the Bahamas, Belize, the British Virgin Islands, China, Fiji, Korea, the Philippines, and Vietnam, upon invitation by international governmental and non-governmental partners.

Received the highest level of staff performance evaluation ratings possible throughout duration of duties. Was awarded a formal commendation of merit within service record.

Served as a researcher within the Biological Resources Program. Raised US$7.5 million in grant funding for research projects and collaborating partner institutions and organizations. Seconded to the Community Conservation Network (Honolulu, Hawaii) by the World Resources Institute from June 2002 to September 2004 through a collaborative research agreement between the two organizations.

Primary research projects:

(1) Investigation into the role of collaborative fisheries management for reducing fisheries conflict and civil unrest in coastal communities in Southeast Asia.

(2) Conceptualization, design, and initiation of the Locally Managed Marine Area (LMMA) Network in order to test the conditions under which community-based and collaborative marine resource management works best, and why.

(3) Development, pilot site testing, and promotion of measures designed to evaluate the management effectiveness of marine protected areas (MPAs) through the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas.

(4) Investigation into the small-scale aquaculture of coral reef and live rock as an alternative livelihood for reducing wild extraction and fishing pressure on coral reef ecosystems in Southeast Asia.

Served as program staff (both Program Officer and Senior Program Officer) and a field-based on-retainer consultant to the USAID-funded (US$120 million) Biodiversity Support Program, within WWF's Research and Development Division (later, renamed "Conservation Science").

Worked as the South Pacific Officer within the Biodiversity Conservation Network, a USAID grants-based program designed to systematically test hypotheses relating to using an enterprise approach for community-based conservation projects throughout the Indo-Pacific region. Worked closely with program partners on marine conservation projects in Indonesia, the Solomon Islands, and Fiji. Led field-based capacity building efforts to design and implement biological and socioeconomic monitoring and evaluation efforts at community-based conservation projects throughout the Indo-Pacific, in support of programmatic hypothesis testing efforts. Managed multiple small (< US$200 thousand) and large (US$250 thousand to $1.0 million) project awards to conservation grantees.

Worked within the Community Resource Conservation and Development (CRCD) Project of the Solomon Islands Country Programme at WWF-South Pacific. Based out of the CRCD Field Office in Marovo Lagoon, Western Province, Solomon Islands. Organized and trained community conservation officers on coral reef and marine invertebrate monitoring, and led a community volunteer team in the comparative evaluation of key marine resource populations between non-protected (open) and traditionally-protected ("tabu") marine areas, in support of the design and implementation of community-based marine protected areas.

Field of Study (dual focus): tropical marine ecology and coastal management

Master's thesis: "Community-Based Marine Resource Management in the South Pacific: A Case Study in the Marovo Lagoon, Solomon Islands." All thesis research was completed while living in the Solomon Islands (1994-1995), as part of an integrated conservation and development project.

Research conducted (non-thesis related):

(1) Elasmobranch research assistant (Bimini, Bahamas; 1993): Capture, tag, and release of Negaprion brevirostris (lemon shark) for territoriality and home range telemetry studies at the University of Miami Bimini Biological Research Station. Conducted upon invitation by Prof. Samuel H. Gruber, University of Miami.

(2) Marine biological and archaeological dive survey expedition (Haiti; 1995): Completed rapid ecological assessment and characterization of coral reef, seagrass, and lagoon habitat off southern and northern Haiti. Completed pre-disturbance underwater archaeological surveys of undocumented 18th and 19th century historic shipwreck sites off southern and northern Haiti. Conducted upon invitation by the Government of Haiti.

(3) Marine archaeological dive assistant (South Florida; 1993): Completed pre-disturbance underwater survey and deployment of a marine videography GIS system on the H.M.S. Copenhagen. Done upon invitation by the State of Florida.

Honors:

• Rosenstiel Award for Academic Excellence in Graduate Studies
• Rosenstiel Marine Science Fellowship

Fields of Study (dual focus): social psychology and marine biology

Honors:

• Mortar Board National Honor Society
• Order of Omega
• National Dean's List
• University of Miami President's and Dean's Lists
• Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society
• Alpha Lambda Delta National Honor Society
• Bowman Foster Ashe Scholarship

Activities: President and member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity, Florida Alpha Chapter. Instructor in University of Miami Leadership Certificate Program. Member of President's 100.