MISSION
To collaboratively and effectively conduct and coordinate relevant, credible, and efficient regional monitoring and research of wildlife and marine ecosystems that supports the advancement of environmentally responsible and cost-efficient offshore wind power development activities in U.S. Atlantic waters.
Emily Shumchenia, PhD is the Director of the RWSC. She also manages the Northeast Ocean Data Portal.
Christian Laspada is the RWSC Engagement Coordinator.
Nick Napoli is Senior Advisor to the RWSC. He is also the Executive Director of NROC and Senior Advisor to MARCO.
The RWSC Steering Committee contains equal representation of the four Sectors. Representatives are elected by the members of each Sector Caucus. The Steering Committee provides governance and oversight on the processes and procedures of the RWSC. This includes:
There are four RWSC Sectors: federal agencies, states, environmental non-governmental organizations, and the offshore wind industry. View the full RWSC Sector Caucus membership lists (June 2023).
Sector Caucuses provide input to the Steering Committee to ensure progress on strategic research on offshore wind and wildlife topics. Sector Caucuses also:
The RWSC Governance Structure includes frameworks for each Sector Caucus that specify considerations for membership, leadership, and contributions to RWSC.
The Northeast Regional Ocean Council (NROC) and Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean (MARCO), supported by the Coastal States Stewardship Foundation (CSSF) as their fiscal agent, are the hosts of RWSC and have responsibility for the programmatic, contractual, staffing, fiscal, and legal oversight of the entity. As such, NROC and MARCO support the RWSC Steering Committee in implementing the RWSC mission. NROC and MARCO are responsible for the hiring of a Director in consultation with the Steering Committee. NROC and MARCO provide appropriate oversight of the Director’s work to manage the RWSC budget, contracts, grants, and staffing to ensure that RWSC has sufficient capacity such that regional wildlife and offshore wind research, grant and contract, and fiscal administrative objectives can be met.
CSSF, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit entity, serves as RWSC’s fiscal agent, consistent with Memoranda of Understanding with NROC and MARCO. In practice this means that CSSF is the vehicle through which staffing, contracts, and grants for RWSC are executed and managed. CSSF will receive and remit payments on behalf of RWSC for services rendered and funds received. This includes:
The RWSC Annual Work Plan outlines the broad bins of responsibilities of NROC, MARCO, and CSSF staff in launching and implementing the RWSC.
RWSC Annual Work Plan FY2024 (includes milestones achieved in FY2023)
As described in the RWSC Governance Structure, the RWSC is collaboratively led by four Sectors with equal representation on the Steering Committee. The RWSC is hosted by the two Regional Ocean Partnerships on the Atlantic coast, the Northeast Regional Ocean Council and the Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean, with support from the Coastal States Stewardship Foundation. Expand the accordions below to learn more about the RWSC organization.