MBNMS Resource Protection Staff
Karen F. Grimmer
Resource Protection Coordinator
(831) 647–4253
karen.grimmer@noaa.gov
Karen has led the MBNMS Resource Protection team for the past ten years, which includes marine policy, emergency response, permitting, regulatory changes, and enforcement coordination. Prior, she served as Deputy Superintendent from 2007 to 2012. She has over twenty five years of experience in marine resource management, and oversees the site's marine policy activities including whale conservation (entanglement and vessel speed reduction), fisheries related actions (essential fish habitat), and offshore wind energy, as well as environmental review for construction activities. Karen led a team to establish Sanctuary Ecologically Significant Areas within the Sanctuary, and served on the California State led Marine Protected Area Leadership Team for five years.
Karen grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and served as the Director of Education for the nonprofit Marine Science Institute in Redwood City, CA. Prior to MSI, Karen worked as an aquarist at Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco, CA. Karen received her Bachelor of Science in Biology from San Francisco State University and her Master of Science in Education from California State University, Hayward.
Kacy Cooper
Permit Coordinator
(831) 647–1286
kacy.cooper@noaa.gov
Kacy Cooper joined MBNMS as the Permit Coordinator in February 2024. Prior, she was the California Sea Grant Fellow at Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary where she coordinated the Sanctuary Advisory Council and supported other programs including Resource Protection, Education and Outreach, and Research. Kacy completed her masters degree in international environmental policy with a focus on ocean and coastal resource management from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, December 2022. Her main focus of work included developing a roadmap to authorizing pop-up fishing gear in the California Dungeness crab fishery. Along with her professional work, Kacy is an avid scuba diver, traveler, fantasy book reader, and animal enthusiast.
Pam Krone
Water Quality Program Manager, Urban and Rural Watersheds
(831) 647–4238
pam.krone@noaa.gov
Pam coordinates research, education and implementation efforts between the Sanctuary and partner organizations toward the goal of reducing pollution entering the Monterey Bay from agricultural runoff. Our efforts are directed toward helping growers conserve irrigation water used on crops and reduce the amount of agricultural pollutants (e.g. nutrients, pesticides and pathogens) that enter local streams and rivers that eventually empty into the ocean. She coordinates the Agricultural Water Quality Alliance (AWQA), a partnership effort between industry groups, resource conservation agencies, researchers and environmental organizations, with the aim of sustaining the beauty, viability, and productivity of our local farmlands while improving the water quality needed to restore and preserve the integrity of marine and stream ecosystems.
Pam earned her Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Stanford University and then worked in the chemical and paper industries before becoming an organization effectiveness consultant. She received her Master of Science in Coastal and Watershed Science and Policy from California State University, Monterey Bay where she worked on several projects related to agricultural sustainability, food safety, greenhouse gas production on lettuce fields, and the use of satellite technology in forecasting evapotranspiration. Her thesis topic related to the removal of soluble pesticides from water through wetland processes.
Jazmine Mejia-Muñoz
Agriculture Water Quality Program Coordinator
(831) 583–8847
jazmine.mejia-munoz@noaa.gov
Jazmine Mejia-Muñoz is the Research, Education, & Outreach Associate at the California Marine Sanctuary Foundation (CMSF) and the Water Quality Protection Program at the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS). There she helps implement innovative solutions to critical issues affecting the interface of land and marine resources, through stakeholder engagement and education. Ms. Mejia-Muñoz is collaborating with the NOAA Marine Debris Program to assess the scope and scale of marine debris in MBNMS. As part of her interdisciplinary approach, she participates in rangeland restoration efforts, through Healthy Soils Program. Here she works to demonstrate that land-based practices can improve ocean health by reducing atmospheric carbon and diminishing the rate of ocean acidification and warming. Ms. Mejia-Muñoz is working with local growers, the University of California Cooperative Extension, Washington State University, and California Polytechnic State University to conduct trials of biodegradable mulch (BDM). Together, the team is researching BDMs as an alternative to non-degradable mulch used vastly in agriculture fields within the MBNMS watersheds. Additionally, with support from The Nature Conservancy and key stakeholders, Ms. Mejia-Muñoz is also working on identifying and communicating ways to increase the recycling rate of drip irrigation tape used in agricultural fields in Monterey Bay.
Ms. Mejia-Muñoz holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from California State University, Bakersfield and a Master of Science Degree in Environmental Science from the California State University, Monterey Bay. Ms. Mejia-Muñoz is passionate about workforce diversity and is proud to be bilingual in English and Spanish.
Lindsay Brown
Urban Water Quality Program Coordinator
(831) 583–8733
lindsay.brown@noaa.gov
Lindsay Brown is the Water Quality Program Coordinator for the California Marine Sanctuary Foundation (CMSF) and the Water Quality Protection Program at the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS). Lindsay coordinates the volunteer water quality monitoring programs: First Flush, Urban Watch, Snapshot Day, and the Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination (IDDE) monitoring. She also provides monitoring, data management, and technical expertise for local municipalities to better understand pollutants in urban runoff and their water quality objectives for stormwater management. Through both of these avenues, she hopes to help inspire others and to improve the water quality of urban stormwater entering MBNMS. She's open to new partnerships and collaborating on projects to increase understanding of water quality issues.
Lindsay has a Master of Advanced Studies (MAS) degree in marine biodiversity and conservation from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography through the University of California - San Diego. During the MAS program, she completed a capstone project with the Environmental Protection Agency to assess mercury contamination impacts for dredged sediments. Before that, she received her Bachelor of Science degree in biology and environmental science from Iowa State University. She's worked for a private environmental laboratory, a city, and a county conservation district in Minnesota and is continuing her interest and passion for water quality into the state of California to benefit MBNMS.
Rebecca Roberts
Water Quality Project Associate
(831) 200–3759
rebecca.roberts@noaa.gov
Nicholas Carver
Resource Protection Specialist
(831) 647–4251
nicholas.carver@noaa.gov
Nicholas joined the team at MBNMS in April of 2024 as a Marine Resource Protection Specialist. This role provided Nicholas the opportunity to work on many of the projects MBNMS is involved with including assisting research dives teams, small boat operations, emergency response within the MBNMS, and more. Prior to joining the MBNMS Nicholas was a Sea Grant Fellow (2022) and prior to the fellowship a graduate student.
Nicholas Carver graduated from San Francisco State University after earning a Bachelor of Science degree with an emphasis on Ocean, Weather and Climate in 2018 and a Master of Science degree in Physical Oceanography in 2021. As an undergraduate, Nicholas developed an understanding of Earth’s natural systems and as a graduate student Nicholas explored the interaction of regional winds and sea surface temperature in and around the Gulf of the Farallones. As a California Sea Grant Fellow, Nicholas worked for the California State Water Resources Control Board, Recycled Water & Desalination Unit and gained an understanding of multiple elements of desalination and recycled water management throughout California. Nicholas is a native of Madera, CA. He enlisted in the United States Coast Guard in 2000 and was afforded the opportunity to visit many areas of the world during his 10 years of military service. Nicholas is an avid surfer, fisherman and proud father.