Dr. Thomas Noji grew up on Long Island. He earned his Bachelor’s degree from Earlham College, and completed his Master’s degree and Ph.D. at the University of Keele in Germany. Dr. Noji worked in Germany and Norway for 21 years, returning to the United States in 2001 to work at the Sandy Hook Lab of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center. As of this recording in 2016, he is the Ecosystems Processes Division Chief.

David Packer received his undergraduate degree in zoology from Ohio State University. He started to become interested in marine biology and received his Master’s degree from the University of Maine in 1988. He is the editor of Essential Fish Habitat and studies deep sea corals.

Interview contains discussions of: Grain size analysis, dump site project, deep sea corals, benthic communities, EFH, species source documents, stock assessment, and ecosystem based management, Gulf of Maine deep sea coral, research cooperation between NOAA line offices.