Dr. John V. Merriner, originally from Winchester, Virginia, has dedicated his career to the field of fisheries. He obtained his Bachelor's degree in Psychology from Rutgers University in 1964. John pursued higher education at North Carolina State University, where he earned both his Master's degree in 1967 and his Ph.D. in Fisheries in 1973. From 1970 to 1982, John was employed at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. In 1982, he joined the staff at the NMFS Beaufort Laboratory, taking on the role of Fisheries Division Chief.

• Joseph W. Smith: Born and raised in Philadelphia, PA..
• He received his Bachelor’s Degree in biology at Saint Joseph University in Philadelphia in 1975.
• He received his Master’s Degree in Marine Science from Willian & Mary in Williamsburg, VA, in 1980.

Joyce was born and raised in Fitzgerald, Georgia.  She attended Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville, Tennessee; then, she briefly taught grade school and high school in Fitzgerald. She applied for a biological technician position at the Beaufort Laboratory and was hired in 1955; she initially worked for the Lab Director, Dr. Chipman. Her Lab duties involved sampling fishes and invertebrates and rearing algae cultures for the Shellfish Section of the Lab. Joyce was promoted to a Fishery Biologist position. Later, Joyce worked for Dr.

Dr. Pat Tester, a respected figure in the field of oceanography, has dedicated her career to studying and understanding marine ecosystems. Growing up in Oklahoma, her love for the natural world led her to pursue a Bachelor's Degree at California State University at Sonoma in 1972. Seeking further specialization, she obtained her Master's Degree in Oceanography from Oregon State University in 1976 and went on to complete her Ph.D. in the same field at OSU in 1983. In 1976, Dr.

Peter originally hails from Connecticut, but at an early age, his family moved to Southern Pines, North Carolina. He attended East Carolina University in Greenville, NC, and graduated in 1978 with a Bachelor’s degree in Biology. Shortly after graduation, Peter took a brief job with Allied Chemical Company. Peter moved to Carteret County, NC, in 1979 and he accepted a Physical Science Technician position at NOAA’s Beaufort Laboratory in March. Peter worked for Dr. Peter Hanson for his initial five years at the Laboratory; then, he worked for Dr.

• Born and raised in Raleigh, NC
• Graduated from North Carolina State University with Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Biology
• Drafted by the US Army
• Employed as Fisheries Biologist at the Beaufort Lab 1961-1989

 Dr. Randolph “Randy” L. Ferguson was born in Wisconsin along the shores of Lake Michigan and
spent his formative years there.

 During his mid-teens the family moved to New York; there, he enrolled in Cornell University and graduated in 1967 with a Bachelor’s Degree concentrating in Environmental Sciences.

 He entered graduate school at Florida State University in Tallahassee and received his Ph.D. from FSU in 1971; his dissertation dealt with the effects of light and temperature on the growth and productivity of phytoplankton.