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.
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.
Emily Shumchenia, PhD is the Director of the RWSC. She also manages the Northeast Ocean Data Portal.
Avalon Bristow is the RWSC Coordinator. She is also Program Director for MARCO.
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 (August 2022).
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 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 FY2023 (includes milestones achieved in FY2022)