Trika Gerard Named Southeast Fisheries Science Center Deputy Director

NOAA Fisheries has selected Dr. Trika Gerardto serve as deputy director for the Southeast Fisheries Science Center. The center provides the scientific advice and data needed to effectively manage the living marine resources of the Southeast region and Atlantic high seas.

"I am proud to welcome Trika into this position," said Clay Porch, director of the Southeast Fisheries Science Center. "She has made significant contributions to our science over the past two decades and has never ceased striving to improve her skills. The rotational assignments she has taken over the years and her time as chief of staff have prepared her well. I have every confidence that she will be a strong, trusted leader for many years to come. I look forward to working with her to make the Southeast Fisheries Science Center the best it can be."

Trika is originally from St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. She earned her doctoral and master's degrees in Environmental Science from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University. She also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Clark Atlanta University.

She received the NOAA's educational partnership program graduate sciences fellowship in 2002, after which she joined the science center full time as a marine ecologist. In this position, she led research on larval fish distribution and transport, food web dynamics, otolith microstructure analysis, and recruitment connectivity. Trika also led an effort for processing plankton samples collected in response to the Deepwater Horizonoil spill of 2010.

Prior to this new position, Trika most recently served as the Chief of Staff to the science center director. In this position, she managed the day-to-day operations and responsibilities of the center's directorate office and managed internal and external information flow.

Throughout her career, Trika has accrued numerous professional accomplishments and built strong relationships within and outside of NOAA. Along with academic partners, she served as principal investigator for a $1.6 million NOAA RESTORE Science Grant. They evaluated the effects of nitrogen on habitat quality for bluefin tuna larvae in the Gulf of Mexico. She also served as the Southern Region representative for the American Fisheries Society's Early Life History Section. She maintained a collaboration with international colleagues at the Spanish Institute of Oceanography to advance knowledge of trophic ecology of bluefin tuna larvae in the Gulf of Mexico and the Mediterranean. Most notably, Trika was a part of the group awarded the NOAA Administrator's award in 2017 for executing the first larval fish survey around Cuba. Trika also completed NOAA's Leadership Development Competency Program in 2023.

In her spare time, Trika enjoys shopping and traveling. Her favorite travel experiences have been visiting the pyramids of Egypt, the Dead Sea, Petra in Jordan, and the Taj Mahal!