Contact Info: Institute of Marine Mammal Studies-Center for Education and Outreach P.O.Box 207 Gulfport, MS 39502 Phone: 228-896-9182 extension 1769 Direct Line: 228-701-1769 Fax: 228-701-1771

Sharon Walker
Director of Education and Outreach
Institute of Marine Mammal Studies-Center for Education and Outreach

Sharon H. Walker, Ph.D., is a Professor Emeritus within the Department of Coastal Sciences (COA), The University of Southern Mississippi (USM)-Gulf Coast Research Laboratory (GCRL); Director of Education, MS-AL Sea Grant Consortium (MASGC); and Special Projects—Education Officer for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Sea Grant College Program and NOAA’s Office of Education. Dr. Walker has served in a leadership capacity in regional and national collaborations since 1987 in precollege, formal, and informal ocean sciences, coastal processes, and global climate change education projects. Dr. Walker’s extramurally-funded education research has successfully “bridged the gap” between ocean sciences and coastal processes research and the relevance of those data to precollege teachers, students, and the general public. In this vein, over the last two decades, Dr. Walker has successfully written grants totaling approximately seven million dollars and has made at least ten presentations annually at local, state, regional, and national levels. Dr. Walker also publishes one or two manuscripts each year. Dr. Walker was appointed in March 2002 to serve on the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy’s Science Advisory Panel and in 2006 she was invited to continue in this capacity; she is the Marine Technology Society’s Marine Education Past-Chair; a Past-President of the Mississippi Science Teachers Association and the National Marine Educators Association; and Past-Chair for the Centers for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence (COSEE) Council. Dr. Walker is a Board Member for the Gulf Coast Ocean Observing System and the Mississippi Education Lead for the Gulf of Mexico Alliance. Dr. Walker is the Membership Secretary for the National Marine Educators Association and she is the President of the Ocean Springs, Mississippi School Board (Dr. Walker has been serving on the Ocean Spring School Board since 1997). Dr. Walker was the Administrator of the J.L. Scott Marine Education Center and Aquarium from March 1990-June 2006.

Walker, Sharon H. and Susan Cook. 2007. “Collaborations Between Formal and Informal Education,” Current, NMEA Journal, Volume 23, Number 2, pp. 4-6.
Walker, Sharon H. 2007. “Centers for Ocean Science Education Excellence: Central Gulf of Mexico.” Current, NMEA Journal, Volume 23, Number 2, p. 35.
Walker, Sharon H. and Paula Keener-Chavis. 2006. “The Path to Ocean Sciences Literacy: Essential Steps Along the Way,” Marine Technology Society Journal, Vol. 39, No. 4, pp. 20-32.
Walker, Sharon H. , Craig Strang, and Susan Cook. 2006. “The Centers for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence (COSEE): A National Success Story,” Marine Technology Society Journal, Vol. 39, No. 4, pp. 33-40.

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