Dr. Shelby Thomas
Chief Executive Officer & Director of Research
Ocean solutionist who specializes in marine conservation and restoration, receiving her masters in Marine Ecology and PhD in Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences with the University of Florida. She is an environmentalist and marine conservation leader who hopes to inspire others to protect our environments. She has worked with various restoration projects including coral, sea grass, oyster, sea-urchin, and scallop restoration.
She is passionate about preserving our natural ecosystems and creating a foundation for their appreciation. She now has worked with over 40 different restoration projects around the world and continues to expand her scientific breadth. She was the head laboratory director for AMEC Foster Wheeler in Gainesville, overseeing and managing 7 different restoration projects. She has received various scholarly awards and accreditation such as Florida Georgia Louis Stokes Alliance NSF, McNair Fellow, Challenge 2050, and Aylesworth Scholar. Her leadership exemplified being awarded most inventive woman of the year, woman of the year, and top executive of the year at the Stevie Awards. Along with becoming a Tampa Titan.
Through her research and outreach, she plans to assist in conserving, restoring, and better managing our ecosystems. She would like to make a lasting impact, conserving our environments while also improving peoples lives around the world.