MBNMS SAC Recruitment Spring 2025: Application Letter
January 7th, 2025
Dear Friend of Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary:
We are in the process of filling vacant seats on the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council. Beginning immediately, we will accept applications for council membership. State employees should consult their employer for specific guidance on eligibility.
The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council was established pursuant to federal law to ensure continued public participation in the management of the sanctuary, and to:
- Help strengthen community support for the management of the sanctuary;
- Assist in the protection of sanctuary resources by helping identify research needed to increase understanding about the sanctuary, and resource protection actions to address threats to the sanctuary ecosystem; and
- Assist in promoting public stewardship and building community support through problem solving, consensus building, and new constituency development.
Since its establishment in March 1994, the advisory council has played a vital role in the decisions affecting the sanctuary along the central California Coast. The advisory council’s twenty voting members represent a variety of local community and user groups, the general public, and seven local, state and federal governmental jurisdictions. In addition, local college representatives and the respective managers of Channel Islands, Cordell Bank, Greater Farallones, and Monterey Bay national marine sanctuaries, the National Marine Fisheries Service, Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, and the United States Coast Guard participate as non-voting members. Members are appointed competitively by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Candidates selected for these seats should expect to serve from May 2025 to December 2026/2027.
Advisory council representatives are expected to attend regularly scheduled advisory council meetings, typically scheduled four times a year (February, May, August, and November) in full-day sessions, open to the public, located at various locations along the sanctuary’s 276-mile shoreline, and an additional annual retreat. Individual members may also participate in working groups, subcommittees, or special task forces of the advisory council.
The White House has requested that Executive Branch Agencies adopt additional vetting responsibilities for boards, commissions, advisory committees, and related entities. Specifically, if an individual candidate has been a federally registered lobbyist in the two-year period before their appointment date, they may not be a member of a board, commission, or advisory committee.
Your completed application, addressing all of the eight elements in the application guidelines, must be received at our office no later than January 31, 2025. Please email or mail your application to:
Robbin Porter, Advisory Council Coordinator
Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary
99 Pacific Street, Bldg. 455
Monterey, CA 93940
E-mail: robbin.porter@noaa.gov
Thank you for your interest in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. If you have any questions, please contact Dawn Hayes by email at robbin.porter@noaa.gov, or call (831) 647–4206.
Sincerely,
Lisa Wooninck, Ph.D.
Superintendent
Downloads:
| National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council Application & Guidelines | ||
| ONMS/MBNMS Advisory Council Application Cover Letter | HTML | |
| MBNMS General Requirements for Advisory Council Representatives | HTML | |
| MBNMS Specific Requirements for Advisory Council Representatives | HTML |
About PDF and HTML Files |