Fredrika Moser

Dr. Fredrika Moser is director of Maryland Sea Grant College, one of 34 university-based programs in coastal and Great Lakes states that support research, education, and public outreach on marine and coastal issues. A marine research leader and policy analyst, Moser has been director since 2012.

As Maryland Sea Grant’s research leader from 2001 to 2011, Dr. Moser helped develop several of the program’s signature efforts to assist policy makers and natural resource officials in making management decisions in the Chesapeake Bay and Mid-Atlantic regions. One such multi-state project convened scientific workshops to improve understanding and management of aquatic invasive species, including zebra mussels, Chinese mitten crabs, and unwanted “hitchhiker species” spread by the live bait trade. She has also led a long-running NSF funded Research Experience for Undergraduates and spearheaded innovative programming to increase participation of underrepresented and underserved students in marine science education and careers.

Before coming to Maryland Sea Grant in 2001, she served as a marine science policy analyst at the U.S. Department of State while she was a diplomacy fellow with the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Earlier, she was a manager for environmental assessment at the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection where she oversaw programs to inform policy decisions on dioxin contamination, ocean pollution, dredged sediments, and other environmental problems.

She was a consultant to the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, focusing on aquatic invasive species and sediment management. The commission advised the President and Congress in 2004 on measures to halt the decline of the nation’s oceans and coasts. She also serves as a board member for the Mid-Atlantic Regional Association for Coastal Ocean Observing Systems and the Northeast Regional Aquaculture Center.

She earned a doctoral degree at the Institute for Marine and Coastal Sciences at Rutgers University and a master’s degree in geological sciences, also from Rutgers. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in earth sciences and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Santa Cruz.